Governor General of Canada - Symbols and Protocol

Symbols and Protocol

As the personal representative of the monarch, the governor general follows only the sovereign in the Canadian order of precedence, preceding even other members of the Royal Family. Though the federal viceroy is considered primus inter pares amongst his or her provincial counterparts, the governor general also outranks the lieutenant governors in the federal sphere; at provincial functions, however, the relevant lieutenant governor, as the Queen's representative in the province, precedes the governor general. The incumbent governor general and his or her spouse are also the only people in Canada, other than serving Canadian ambassadors and high commissioners, entitled to the use the style His or Her Excellency and the governor general is granted the additional honorific of The Right Honourable for their time in office and for life afterwards.

Prior to 1952, all Governors General of Canada were members of a peerage. Typically, individuals appointed as federal viceroy were already a peer, either by inheriting the title, such as the Duke of Devonshire, or by prior elevation by the sovereign in their own right, as was the case with the Viscount Alexander of Tunis. None were life peers. John Buchan was, in preparation for his appointment as governor general, made the Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield in the County of Oxford by King George V, six months before Buchan was sworn in as viceroy. The Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition at the time, William Lyon Mackenzie King, felt Buchan should serve as governor general as a commoner; however, George V insisted he be represented by a peer. With the appointment of Vincent Massey as governor general in 1952, governors general ceased to be members of a peerage; successive governments since that date have held to the non-binding and defeated (in 1934) principles of the 1919 Nickle Resolution.

Per the orders' constitutions, the governor general serves as the Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, the Chancellor of the Order of Military Merit, and the Chancellor of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. He or she also upon installation automatically becomes a Knight or Dame of Justice and the Prior and Chief Officer in Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. As acting commander-in-chief, the governor general is further routinely granted the Canadian Forces Decoration by the Chief of the Defence Staff on behalf of the monarch. All of these honours are retained following an incumbent's departure from office, with the individual remaining in the highest categories of the orders, and they may also be further distinguished with induction into other orders or the receipt of other awards.

The Viceregal Salute—composed of the first six bars of the Royal Anthem ("God Save the Queen") followed by the first and last four bars of the national anthem ("O Canada")—is the salute used to greet the governor general upon arrival at, and mark his or her departure from most official events. To mark the viceroy's presence at any building, ship, airplane, or car in Canada, the governor general's flag is employed. The present form was adopted on 23 February 1981 and, in the federal jurisdiction, takes precedence over all other flags save the Queen's personal Canadian standard. When the governor general undertakes a state visit, however, the national flag is generally employed to mark his or her presence. This flag is also, along with all flags on Canadian Forces property, flown at half-mast upon the death of an incumbent or former governor general.

The crest of the Royal Arms of Canada is employed as the badge of the governor general, appearing on the viceroy's flag and on other objects associated with the person or the office. This is the fourth such incarnation of the governor general's mark since confederation.