Article: Speaker's baton - the invention of a tradition.

The Speaker's Baton is a short green stick surmounted by a lion in silver with its right forepaw resting on a crown adorned with maple leafs and twelve rubies. The baton first appeared in the personal coat of arms granted to John Fraser as Speaker of the House of Commons by the Chief Herald for Canada in December 1992. In an article published in the winter 2001-02 issue of this Review Bruce Hicks contended that the baton should be recognized as a symbol of the Speaker of the House. This rejoinder takes issue with many of the arguments Mr. Hicks used in coming to that conclusion.

Speaker Fraser was so taken with the design that he had a silversmith craft a baton ...

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