Archival Replica of the Wooden Maple Crown of the Lundberg Republic Executive. 
 
Made to Order.
100% Synthetic Wood.
Made in the USA. 
 
Replica of the wooden maple crown of the Lundberg Republic Executive. Carved by German craftsman Johann Rehfus after the Lundberg rebellion, this crown was worn by the sovereign committee of the short-lived Lundberg Republic—the first republic in North America. In 1750, Britain sought to displace Acadian and Mi’kmaq populations in Nova Scotia by founding Halifax and block settling a new population of foreign Protestants, including French Huguenots and displaced southern Germans. By 1753, conditions had worsened and the settlers’ primary purpose as colonial buffer had become clear. Relocated to a new town named Lundberg, they revolted, allying with nearby Acadians and Mi’kmaq. This tripartite alliance declared an independent republic, inspired by Swiss-German ideas brought from the old world. Starved of support, the city formed an Executive Council, each member receiving a maple leaf crown carved from red maple. This remains the first known use of the maple leaf as a Canadian national symbol. Though the Lundberg Republic was destroyed in 1756 by British invasion, one Executive Council crown still remains—smuggled to Quebec by a Jesuit, then seized by the British after the Battle of Quebec. Indeed, this crown is depicted in the infamous 1770 painting The Death of General Wolfe strewn below the dying General’s body, reassuring a British viewer of the essential capitulation of counter-colonies or republics in North America. The crown was repatriated to Nova Scotia in 1956 after agitation by the Progressive Conservatives, chief among them then-backbencher John Diefenbaker. The stunt is credited with securing his unprecedented electoral coup in the maritime province the following year. Integrated into the tapestry of Canadian history, in this crown we can see the emergence of an advanced form of political organization and the aesthetics of nature that still define Canadian national culture. Allowed unprecedented access by Heritage Canada, LMX Unlimited has reproduced an exact replica of the remaining crown, fabricated in synthetic wood.