Australian High Commission

New Zealand

High Commission address: 72-76 Hobson Street, Thorndon, Wellington - Telephone: +64 (0)4 473 6411 - Fax: +64 (0)4 498 7135

Official Australian Flags

There were quite a few different flags that represented Australian colonies before the flag that is now the Australian Flag. However now there are only a few flags that officially represent the Commonwealth of Australia.

Australian Flag

When the Australian colonies formed the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, the Union Jack (the flag of Great Britain) had been the official flag for 100 years. The new, independent Australia needed a new flag to identify itself in the world.

An official competition for a new flag design was arranged, which attracted entries from all over Australia and around the world. Five of the entries, which contained almost identical designs, were placed equal first. Apart from later, minor changes to the stars, these designs became the current Australian flag.

The flag first flew from the Exhibition Building in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. This date is now known as Australian National Flag Day. The Australian Flag is also known as the Commonwealth Blue Ensign.

The Australian Flag consists of three parts set on a blue field. The first part is the Union Jack, illustrating the link with Britain. The second part is the Southern Cross (a constellation of stars only visible in the Southern Hemisphere), representing Australia. Finally, the Commonwealth Star represents Australia's federal system. Originally, the Commonwealth Star had six points (for the six states), but, in 1908 a seventh point was added to represent the Territories of the Commonwealth.

The Australian national flag is the only flag in the whole world to fly over an entire continent.

The Aboriginal Flag

The Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, an artist and an Aboriginal, in 1971. The flag was designed to be an eye-catching rallying symbol for the Aboriginal people and a symbol of their race and identity. The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red the earth and their spiritual relationship to the land, and the yellow the sun, the giver of life.

The Aboriginal flag was first raised in Victoria Square in Adelaide on National Aboriginal Day in 1971, but was adopted nationally by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in 1972 after it was flown above the Aboriginal "Tent Embassy" outside of the old Parliament House in Canberra.

Mr Thomas is also uneasy about suggestions that the Aboriginal Flag could replace the Union Jack in the current Australian flag to create a new national flag. Mr Thomas says "Our flag is not a secondary thing. It stands on its own, not to be placed as an adjunct to any other thing. It shouldn't be treated that way."

The Aboriginal flag is increasingly being flown by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. In view of its increasing importance in Australian society, the Government initiated steps in 1994 to give the flag legal recognition. After a period of public consultation, the Government made its own decision in July 1995 that the flag should be proclaimed a "Flag of Australia".

The Air Force Ensign

The Air Force Ensign is for use by the Royal Australian Air Force at its facilities in Australia and overseas.

The design of the Air Force Ensign has been changed twice since the Royal Australian Air Force was established in 1921. The RAAF used the ensign of the Royal Air Force of Britain until 1949, whereupon the Southern Cross and Commonwealth star were added to the ensign and the British roundel (military aircraft insignia) was moved to the lower fly.

During the Vietnam War the RAAF ceased using the British roundel on its aircraft, as Britain was not involved in the Vietnam war and the continued use of the British roundel on Australian military aircraft highlighted its inappropriateness.

The central red circle of the British roundel was substituted with a leaping red kangaroo to create a new Australian roundel. The Air Force Ensign with its British roundel, however, was not altered until 1982. The new Air Force ensign with the Australian roundel was proclaimed as an official Australian on 6 May 1982.

The Australian Red Ensign

The Australian Civil Ensign, or Australian Red Ensign, is simply a red version of the Australian National flag. It is for use only at sea and officially never on land, but can be used by private citizens. At sea, it is the only flag allowable for merchant ships registered in Australia under the Navigation and Shipping Act 1912 and The Shipping Registration Act 1981. Pleasure craft, however, may fly either the Red Ensign or the National Flag.

The history of the Red Ensign is intertwined with the history of the Australian National flag. From 1901 to 1954 the Red Ensign was in practice, used as Australia's Civil Flag, i.e. the flag to be flown by private citizens on land. The Blue Ensign was for Government use only, reflecting British practice with its ensigns.

The design of the Australian Red Ensign was always kept in step with the Blue Ensign (i.e. with respect to the number of points on the stars, etc.) but there was often public confusion about which was the `correct' flag to fly. Many thought the choice was merely one of fashion or preference, while many people still chose to fly the Union Jack.

In 1941, Australia's Prime Minister Robert Menzies added to this confusion by directing that there should be no restriction on private citizens flying the Blue Ensign, though most people continued to use the red ensign. This Government consent was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Ben Chifley in February 1947. However, the confusion really wasn't ended until the Flags Act 1953 (enacted in 1954) gave legal effect to this directive, with the Red Ensign becoming reserved as the Civil Ensign.

The Naval Ensign

The Naval Ensign is a white ensign version of the Australian National Flag, for use by official Government naval defence forces (i.e. the Royal Australian Navy) and on RAN on-shore establishments.

From the time the Royal Australian Navy was formed in 1911 until 1967, all its ships flew the White Ensign of the UK, i.e. the Royal Navy Ensign.

In March 1967, the Holt Government adopted a new design, one consistent with the design of the other two Australian Flags but with a white field. This change was made at the request of the British Government which was concerned about the possibility of attacks on Royal Navy vessels near Vietnam, though the United Kingdom was not involved in the Vietnam War.

The Torres Straight Islander Flag

The Torres Strait Islander flag is attributed to the late Bernard Namok of Thursday Island.

The flag is emblazoned with a white Dari (headdress) which is a symbol of Torres Strait Islanders. The white five pointed star beneath it symbolises the five major island groups and the navigational importance of stars to these seafaring people.

The green stripes represent the land, the black stripes represent the people, and the blue the sea. The flag as a whole symbolises the unity of all Torres Strait Islanders.

As with the Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag is beginning to be flown more widely and gaining more recognition as indigenous issues gain more prominence in Australia.

The Federal Government initiated steps in 1994 to give the flag legal recognition. After a period of public consultation, the Government decided in July 1995 that the flag should be proclaimed a "Flag of Australia".

Related weblinks -
• Official information about Australian flags here -
http://www.anbg.gov.au/oz/flag.html
• A little about the history of the Australian flag -
http://www.australianflag.biz/history.htm
• A good overall site for Australian flag information -
http://flagspot.net/flags/au.html
• And more about Australian flags here -
http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/flags.html
• And finally, another Australian Flag history site -
http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/04387dff36dbe761ca2569de001fb2c4?OpenDocument