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It was first used as a Canadian symbol as early as 1700 when the English, Scottish, and Irish in Canada would all display their national plant at certain gatherings. Individuals with only distant affiliation to these areas and wishing to be considered Canadians began to wear the maple leaf.

The maple leaf slowly caught on as a Canadian national symbol. It was included in the coat of arms of both Ontario and Quebec in 1868 and was added to the Canadian coat of arms in 1921. In 1867 Alexander Muir composed the patriotic The Maple Leaf Forever, which became an unofficial anthem in English Canada. From 1876 until 1901 the leaf appeared on all Canadian coins. After 1901 it remained on the pennyA penny (pl. pence or pennies is a unit of currency or a coin used in several English-speaking countries: 1/100 of the British Pound Sterling or the Irish pound ( 1971- 2001), or a coin with that value: see history of the English penny. 1/240 of the Briti, and since 1979 it has adorned the Royal Canadian MintThe Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint designs and manufactures: collector coins; gold, silver and platinum bullion coins; customized medals, tokens and t's goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d, silverThis page is about Silver the element. For the color, see Silver Silver is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ag ( L. Argentum and atomic number 47. A soft white lustrous transition metal, silver has the highest electrical and th, and platinumPlatinum is also a certification by the RIAA and other world recording industries, see: RIAA certification Platinum is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. A heavy, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white bullion coin issues, which are officially known as Maple Leafs. During WWI and WWII the leaf was a widely used regimental symbol. The maple leaf finally became the central national symbol with the intoduction of the Canadian flag in 1965.

The eleven pointed maple leaf seen on the Canadian flag is highly stylized and refers to no specific species of maple, perhaps most closely resembling the Sugar maple (Acer saccharum).