The City of Toronto flag, often simply referred to as the flag of Toronto, is the flag adopted by Toronto City Council to represent the city. The flag was designed by Renato De Santis and includes a white outline of Toronto City Hall on a blue field, and a red maple leaf at the base of the towers. An early flag of Toronto was adopted by the former City of Toronto in 1967 and included the city's coat of arms on a blue and white field. However, that flag was replaced by De Santis' design in 1974, which remained in use until the former City of Toronto was amalgamated in 1998. In 1999, a 1:2 proportioned version of De Santis' flag was adopted by the new City of Toronto. Description The flag of Toronto includes a white outline of the twin towers of the Toronto City Hall slightly left-of-centre on a blue field. The red maple leaf from the Canadian flag sits at the base of the towers, representing the city council chambers. The shape of the space above and between the towers suggests the letter 'T', the city's initial. The design adopted by the City of Toronto in 1999 is proportioned at 1:2, although its original design created by De Santis was proportioned at 2:3. As a municipal flag, the flag of Toronto follows the flag of Canada, the flags of other sovereign countries, and flags of provinces and territories in Canadian flag etiquette. A variation of this flag is used by Toronto Fire Services fireboats. The marine ensign consists of the city's flag in the upper canton, with a lifebuoy on a two-tone blue background. History Flags of the former City of Toronto An early flag of Toronto was designed by Eric Arthur and his son, and adopted in 1967 by the former City of Toronto. It featured the city's coat of arms imposed on a blue and white field. The design was criticized by the incumbent mayor of Toronto, William Dennison. On 28 August 1974, a committee was appointed by Toronto City Council to design a new flag. A competition to design a new flag was launched later that year that was open to all residents of Metropolitan Toronto. More than 700 submissions were received, more than half of which incorporated a maple leaf. A flag design committee, headed by Robert Woadden of the City of Toronto