A symbol of one of Canada's greatest military victories is coming home. The Red Ensign flag, carried into the Battle of Vimy Ridge during World War I, will be loaned by the Imperial War Museum in London, England to Canada for two years.

The flag will become the centerpiece for the new Canadian War Museum under construction in Ottawa. It is scheduled to open in May 2005.

"We plan on placing it within the new exhibition of the new Canadian War Museum in such a way that it explains in fact, the beginning of the process of Canada becoming its own nation," stated Joe Geurts, Director and CEO, Canadian War Museum.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge stands as Canada's greatest accomplishment of the First World War. Canadian troops successfully took the strategic ridge from German occupation after French and British troops failed. The Red Ensign that accompanied the Canadians, according to military historians, is a unique military standard dating back to 1870.

"This was the visible symbol of their nationhood," said Robert Butt, Director of Public Affairs, Royal Canadian Legion. "This is the flag that they stood for. This is the country that they stood for… this is what they followed into battle.

"This is what they were fighting for, the symbol that was in front of them -- this flag, that's why it was important."

At the end of the battle, 3,598 Canadian soldiers were dead. The Red Ensign, carried by the 5th Saskatchewan Battalion, came to represent the courage of a nation and a symbol Canada’s coming of age.

Many requests over the years for the repatriation of the flag to Ottawa have been turned down by Britain. Now, after delicate negotiations between the Royal Canadian Legion and the Imperial War Museum in London, the Red Ensign -- with emblems of Canada's four original provinces on display for the past 85 years -- will be coming home.