Every July 1, Canadians celebrate their nation's birthday with fireworks, parades, and flag-waving. What most don't know is that the country's original name - the Dominion of Canada - traces directly back to a Bible verse, chosen by a devout Christian statesman during his morning devotions.
Canada Day marks the anniversary of Confederation on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act united Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single nation. But before it was even named, the Fathers of Confederation debated what to call their new country. Some favored "Kingdom." Others worried it would offend the neighboring United States, so newly free of monarchy itself.
That's when Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, premier of New Brunswick, spoke up. Tilley began every day with Bible reading and prayer, and during his devotions one morning in London, he was struck by Psalm 72:8 in the King James Version: "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." He suggested "Dominion" as the name for Canada - a nation that would, in time, stretch literally from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The other delegates agreed. So did Queen Victoria. And on July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was born - its very name a quiet echo of Scripture. The connection didn't end there. When Canada adopted its official coat of arms in 1921, the motto chosen was A Mari Usque Ad Mare - Latin for "from sea to sea," a direct quote of the same verse. It still appears today on Canadian passports and government documents.
The holiday's roots in faith showed up in the celebrations themselves, too. On the very first Dominion Day, church bells rang out from the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto, joining bonfires and fireworks across the new nation in a night described by observers as filled with "musical and other entertainments."
The name changed to Canada Day in 1982, when the country gained full independence from Britain. But the Scripture engraved into the nation's founding story remains - quite literally - carved into the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, where the words of Psalm 72:8 are inscribed on the East Window to this day.
So this Canada Day, as fireworks light up the sky from coast to coast to coast, it's worth remembering: the name of the country itself was born in prayer.
