THE STORY OF: The Maple Leaf of Canada Gown Worn By Queen Elizabeth II

Part of an ongoing series of 29Secrets stories, taking a deep dive into the history of legendary beauty products and iconic fashion moments…

By Christopher Turner
Illustration by Michael Hak

Fashion has always been political—even when it pretends not to be. Long before red carpet commentators started decoding celebrity outfits for hidden messages, and decades before the phrase diplomatic dressing became shorthand for royals wearing local designers and symbolic colours while abroad, the late Queen Elizabeth II had already mastered the art of communicating through clothing.

One of her earliest and most elegant examples happened in Canada.

On October 14, 1957, during her first official visit to Canada as reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II arrived at a state banquet held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa wearing what would become one of the most memorable gowns of her reign: a sweeping white evening dress embroidered with sparkling silver maple leaves.

Now known as the “Maple Leaf of Canada” gown, the look was more than ceremonial evening wear. It was a carefully considered tribute to the country she was visiting—and an early lesson in how fashion could become a form of soft diplomacy.

At first glance, the dress appeared classic royal evening wear: regal, elegant, impossibly refined. But like many of the Queen’s most successful wardrobe choices, the meaning was embedded in the details. 

Today, nearly seven decades later, the dress remains one of the defining examples of royal state dressing and an early blueprint for the kind of symbolic fashion choices that continue to dominate headlines.

Here’s the history of the Maple Leaf of Canada gown, memorably worn by Queen Elizabeth II during her first official visit as Queen to Canada.

Becoming a queen

Queen Elizabeth II reigned from1952 until her death on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96. She was the longest-reigning monarch in British and Commonwealth history, and was also the first monarch to be crowned Queen of Canada.

Before she became queen, Elizabeth visited Canada for the first time in the fall of 1951, accompanied by her husband Philip, whom she had married on November 20, 1947. The royal couple were in Canada representing Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, who had just undergone surgery for lung cancer and was unable to travel. There was tremendous popular interest in Elizabeth and Philip’s visit from across the country, and the royal couple threw themselves into Canadian pastimes: attending a hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, a demonstration of the Calgary Stampede, and square dancing at Rideau Hall.

George VI died the following year, on February 6, 1952, while Elizabeth and Philip were representing him on another royal tour, this time to Kenya. The 25-year-old Princess automatically succeeded to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. The new Queen and her husband immediately returned to the United Kingdom and ascended to the throne in a climate of tremendous public goodwill.

Elizabeth II was crowned Queen at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953—making her the head of state of the United Kingdom, Canada, and 13 other Commonwealth realms. 

She made history by becoming the first monarch to be crowned Head of the Commonwealth and Queen of Canada. At her coronation—the first monarch whose coronation was televised—she wore a dress that included symbols from the Commonwealth realms, including embroidered maple leaves representing Canada.

It was the first time she would famously embrace the maple leaf—but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

The Maple Leaf of Canada gown

In October 1957, Queen Elizabeth returned to Canada, in time to become the first monarch in Canadian history to deliver the throne speech and to open Parliament. John Diefenbaker was the Conservative prime minister at the time, and the country was enthralled with the 31-year-old Queen when she arrived in Ottawa. 

During her visit, the Queen debuted the now famous Maple Leaf of Canada gown at a grand state banquet and reception that was held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on October 14, 1957. Her gown was designed by Norman Hartnell, the British couturier responsible for shaping much of the Queen’s visual identity during the early decades of her reign. 

Hartnell was already legendary by that point. He had designed the Queen’s 1947 wedding gown and later her 1953 coronation dress, the one famously embroidered with floral emblems representing countries across the Commonwealth. So it’s clear he understood something fundamental about royal dressing: symbolism mattered.

For the Canadian tour, Hartnell created an ivory-white satin gown embroidered with a garland of white roses (the emblem of the House of York) and shimmering green maple leaves (the symbol of Canada) cascading across the skirt and bodice. Rather than rendering the symbol literally, he transformed it into couture—allowing the dress to feel recognizably Canadian while maintaining the grandeur expected of a royal state occasion.

“Each leaf is made of green velvet appliquéd with crystal and imitation emeralds,” the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, wrote on Facebook in 2020. “The white roses are formed with crystals, imitation white pearls, and imitation diamonds.”

The result was subtle enough to feel timeless but deliberate enough that nobody missed the message.

At the time Queen Elizabeth wore the gown, Canada’s current flag didn’t yet exist. The now-iconic red and white Maple Leaf flag would not be adopted until 1965—eight years later. But the maple leaf itself had already become deeply woven into Canada’s identity, appearing in military insignia, official imagery, and national iconography long before it officially flew above Parliament Hill.

“Second only to her dazzling coronation gown of this afternoon was the Queen’s Maple Leaf of Canada Dress,” the Globe and Mail reported at the time. “Each leaf in green velvet was appliqued with crystals and emeralds.… The magnificent gown was so striking and so magnificently worn by Her Majesty that one hoped for a stimulus to Canadian design, with so regal an example.”

“The Queen’s every glance, gesture and smile was reported by the press,” author John Melady wrote in the 2006 book Pearson’s Prize: Canada and the Suez Crisis. “Her ‘Maple Leaf of Canada’ dress got as much coverage as a flood in Valencia, Spain, that left a quarter of a million people homeless.”

The dress today

In many ways, the Maple Leaf of Canada gown established the template for the Queen. Throughout her 70-year reign, she developed a reputation for wardrobe choices that acknowledged the places she visited, without turning into costume. There were brooches tied to local history, colours selected for symbolic meaning, and dresses that subtly nodded to host nations.

But the Maple Leaf of Canada gown remains one of the earliest—and arguably one of the most successful—examples.

Over time, it became one of the most celebrated garments in the royal wardrobe, and it remains closely associated with the Queen’s relationship with Canada throughout her decades-long reign. It captured a country in transition and a monarch beginning to define her role for a changing Commonwealth.

The Maple Leaf of Canada gown was worn only once by Queen Elizabeth II. After the state banquet and reception in Ottawa, the dress was donated to the country. Today the original historic garment is preserved and housed as part of the permanent collection in the Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.

By accentuating the symbol of the Maple Leaf at such a visible moment, the Hartnell gown that Queen Elizabeth II wore in Ottawa quietly connected the monarchy to an emerging modern Canadian identity. Today, it remains an ultimate symbol of Canadian-inspired haute couture and diplomatic fashion.

Want more? You can read other stories from our The Story Of series right here.