I remember I was at Ridyyah Airport in Saudi Arabia waiting for a flight connection

Two backpackers across from us each had a Canadian flag on their backpack

Two (armed) Saudi military types came over and pointed to the flag and asked 'What is this?'

The 2 Saudis went on to say that in this part  of the world it means:

'The tail of the American dog'

So you see whatever the stuffy and self-centered people of CANADA think about their flag, it certainly doesn't mean the same to other peoples of the earth!!