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The similarities between Canada’s new 150th birthday logo and the City of Ottawa’s 2017 logo are striking. And both owe a design debt to Stuart Ash’s iconic centennial logo.

The City of Ottawa unveiled its 2017 logo on May 23, 2013. Developed by graphic artists from the National Capital Commission, City of Ottawa and City of Gatineau, it’s a bit like a maple leaf imagined by Picasso.

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While Canada’s new logo uses 13 diamond shapes in its stylized maple leaf, Ottawa’s is made up of 13 triangles. Both employ various shades of blue, green, purple, orange and red; Canada’s adds yellow, as well.

Saad Bashr, Ottawa’s director of economic development, acknowledged the city’s logo was inspired by Ash’s beloved centennial logo, commissioned after a contest failed to produce an acceptable design. It used 11 equilateral coloured triangles — representing the 10 provinces and the Northwest Territories — to create a five-pointed maple leaf nestled on a jet-black background.