VANCOUVER – With the opening of its third Olympics, Canada tried to prove to the world that it is about more than just maple leaves.

To be sure, there were maple leaves at the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Games, including paper ones falling from the ceiling and a giant one made out of torches. But there was also an homage to Canada's aboriginal peoples, a journey through the country's landscapes from east to west and an extended paean to the new Canada by slam poet Shane Koyczan.

"We are more than genteel or civilized, we are an idea in the process of being realized," recited Mr. Koyczan.

In an opening address, John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver organizing committee, said that the show was a celebration of the "cultures, micro-cultures, languages and peoples that make Canada Canada."

He added: "This journey has not been about the few but rather the many."