The Métis Flag was first used by Métis resistance fighters in Canada prior to the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816. The flag is either blue or red with a white infinity symbol superimposed on top. The blue flag is used to associate the Métis employees of the Northwest Company, while the red represents the Métis who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company (see Anglo-Métis). The symbol represents the mixing of the European immigrants and the First Nations peoples, which creates a new and distinct culture, the Métis.
The blue background flag has been accepted by the Métis National Assembly as the official flag of the Métis Nation of Canada. The red flag now stands as the provincial ensign for the Métis Nation of Alberta.
The white infinite symbol on the flag represents the faith that the Métis culture shall live forever. It can also be perceived as two conjoined circles, standing for the unity of two cultures, Aboriginal and European.
Recognized merely as a horizontal figure 8 by many settlers, the Métis flag was carried by the French 'half-breeds' with pride. The figure in the centre of a blue field represents the joining of two cultures and as an infinity symbol, represents the immortality of a nation.
As the Métis were strongly associated with the North West Company, a fur trading entity in competition with the HBC, they often fought for NWC causes. As part of a gift giving ceremony in 1814, NWC partner Alexander MacDonnell presented the Métis with this flag, which would soon become a trademark for the nation. Today, the Métis flag is still used and carried as a symbol of continuity and pride. http://www.metisnation.org/culture/culture_links/flag.html