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Named after an indigenous American Indian people, the Slavey (or Dogrib), the lake was first sighted by Europeans in 1771. Gold was discovered here in the 1930s, and zinc and lead are also mined in the area. The Great Slave Railway (700 km/434 mi long) enables these minerals to be transported south. The Mackenzie Highway now links Hay River on the south shore with the main cities of Alberta, and continues west to Yellowknife (the territorial capital), a mining centre on the north arm of the lake.
The ‘Sun of May’ was added in 1818. The blue bands are a shade known as ‘celeste’, said to be the colour of the sky which inspired Argentine revolutionary Manuel Belgrano before battle. Effective date: 16 August 1985.
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