Italian navigator. Commissioned, with his three sons, by Henry VII of England to discover unknown lands, he arrived at Cape Breton Island on 24 June 1497, thus becoming the first European to reach the North American mainland (he thought he was in northeast Asia). In 1498 he sailed again, touching Greenland, and probably died on the voyage.
Modelled on the French tricolour, the vertical stripes represent liberty and revolution. The almost square proportions of the flag are unusual. Effective date: 23 January 1831.