The Australian National Flag has three elements on a blue background: the Union Jack, the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross.
The Union Jack in the upper left corner (or canton) acknowledges the history of British settlement.
Below the Union Jack is a white Commonwealth or Federation star. It has seven points representing the unity of the six states and the territories of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Southern Cross is shown on the fly of the flag in white. This constellation of five stars can be seen only from the southern hemisphere and is a reminder of Australia’s geography.
History
The colonies of Australia federated to become a single Commonwealth in 1901. That year, Australia’s first Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Sir Edmund Barton announced an international competition to design a flag for the new nation. It attracted 32,823 entries. Five near-identical entries were awarded equal first and the designers shared the £200 prize.
The Australian National Flag was flown for the first time in September 1901 at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which was then the seat of the federal government.
It was announced in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 8 of 1903 that King Edward VII approved designs for the flag of Australia, known as the Commonwealth blue ensign, and for the flag of the merchant navy, known as the Commonwealth red ensign. The stars of the Southern Cross were simplified to four seven-pointed stars and one five pointed star. (The 1901 design depicted the stars with a differing number of points to signify their brightness.) In 1908 a seventh point was added to the Commonwealth star to represent the Australian territories.
Confusion developed surrounding the use of the two Australian flags. The blue ensign was intended for official and naval purposes only and the red ensign was to be used by the merchant fleet. However, the general public also began using the red ensign on land. In 1941, Prime Minister the Rt Hon Robert Menzies issued a press statement recommending the flying of the blue ensign as a national emblem. The Flags Act 1953 ended confusion about which ensign to use.
An amendment to the Flags Act 1953 was passed in 1998 to ensure that the Australian National Flag can be changed only with the agreement of the Australian people.
Other official Australian flags include the Australian Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag and the ensigns of the Australian Defence Force.
Flying the flag
The flag should be raised briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
The flag should be raised no earlier than first light and lowered no later than dusk.
When the flag is raised or lowered, or when it is carried in a parade or review, everyone present should be silent and face the flag. People in uniform should salute.
The flag should always be flown freely and as close as possible to the top of the flagpole with the rope tightly secured.
Unless all flags are raised and lowered simultaneously, the Australian National Flag should be raised first and lowered last.
When the Australian National Flag is flown with flags of other nations, all flags should be the same size and flown on flagpoles of the same height
When flying with only one other national flag, the Australian National Flag should fly on the left of a person facing the flags.
Two flags should not be flown from the same flagpole.
The flag may be flown at night only when it is illuminated.
The flag should never be flown if it is damaged, faded or dilapidated. When the material of a flag deteriorates it should be destroyed privately and in a dignified way. i.e it may be cut into small unrecognisable pieces then disposed of with the normal rubbish collection.
The flag should not be flown upside down, even as a signal of distress.
The flag should not fall or lie on the ground or be used as a cover (although it can be used to cover a coffin at a funeral).
Flying flags at half-mast
Flags are flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning.
The half-mast position will depend on the size of the flag and the length of the flagpole. The flag must be lowered to a position recognisably half-mast to avoid the appearance of a flag which has accidentally fallen away from the top of the flagpole. An acceptable position would be when the top of the flag is a third of the distance down from the top of the flagpole.
There are times when direction will be given by the Australian Government for all flags to be flown at half-mast. The Commonwealth Flag Network can notify you of these occasions by email.
Flags in any locality can be flown at half-mast on the death of a local citizen or on the day, or part of the day, of their funeral.
When lowering the flag from a half-mast position it should be briefly raised to the peak and then lowered ceremoniously.
The flag should never be flown at half-mast at night even if it is illuminated.
When flying the Australian National Flag with other flags, all flags in the set should be flown at half-mast. The Australian National Flag should be raised first and lowered last.
The Australian Flag came into being after the the federation of the Australian States into the Commonwealth of Australian on 1 January, 1901. The Commonwealth Blue Ensign was selected a a result of a public competition (over 30 000 designs were submitted); although selected in 1901 and gazetted in 1903, it was not given Royal assent and adopted as the definitive Australian flag until 1954 in the Flags Act 1953 (Act No. 1 of 1954)! It is based on the Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom, is twice as long as it is wide, and consists of a dark blue field that can be notionally divided into four quadrants. There is a different motif in each of the upper and lower hoist quadrants and the remaining two quadrants of the fly share another different constellation motif.
The present Australian flag can be considered to consist of three main elements:
· The Union Jack in the upper hoist quadrant or first quarter (also know as the Canton), denoting Australia's historical links with Great Britain. The Union Jack itself is composed of red and white intersecting and overlayed vertical and diagonal crosses on a blue background,
· The Southern Cross in the second quarter (also known as the top or head) and fourth quarter. Consists of five stars in a more or less kite-like pattern - Alpha Crucis (7-point), Beta Crucis (7-point), Gamma Crucis (7-point), Delta Crucis (7-point) and the smaller Epsilon Crucis (5-point). The outer diameter of each of the 4 major stars is 1/7 the width of the fly and the inner diameter is 4/9 outer diameter; the diameter of Epsilon Crucis is 1/12 the width of the fly and the inner diameter is 4/9 the outer diameter. The constellation of the Southern Cross is a significant navigational feature of the southern hemisphere, strongly places Australia geographically and has been associated with the continent since its earliest days,
· The Commonwealth Star or Star of Federation, central in the third quarter or lower hoist, has seven points to denote the six states and the combined territories of the Commonwealth. The seventh point was added in 1909. The outer diameter is 3/5 the width of the Union Jack (3/10 the width of the fly) and the inner diameter is 4/9 the outer diameter.
Other Australian Ensigns
The Australian Army is represented by and protector of the Australian National Flag. In addition to the the Commonwealth Ensign, there are three other official Australian ensigns:
· The Australian Red Ensign - Merchant Navy, as for the Australian flag, but with a red field with white stars. Proclaimed in the Flags Act 1953. Covers Australian registered ships under section 30 of the Shipping Registration Act 1981.
· The Australian White Ensign - Royal Australian Navy - as for the Australian flag but with a white field and dark blue stars. Gazetted in 1967.
· The Sky-blue Ensign - Royal Australian Air Force - as for the Australian flag but with a pale blue field, the southern cross rotated clockwise c. 20 degrees and the blue roundel with white inner and red kangaroo of the Royal Australian Air Force in the lower fly. Gazetted in 1982.
Flags Similar to the Australian Flag
Several nations and territories have flags with similar appearance to the Australian National Flag, reflecting either a common British colonial history or previous association with Austrlaia. Most notable is the New Zealand National Flag, a Blue Ensign with a Southern Cross of four red stars.
State and Territory Flags
Each of the six states of Australia has its own Official State Flag consisting of a Blue Ensign defaced with the badge or heraldic device of the state concerned; the heraldic devices are those represented in the Commonwealth Arms.
The flags of the Australian territories and of more individual nature and are not based on the Blue Ensign.
Other "Australian" Flags
The Queen's Personal Flag for Australia
This flag is for the Queen's personal use when in Australia and was approved by her in 1962. It is based on the Australian Commonwealth Arms in the form of a banner n the ratio 31:22 of the Arms in rectangular form with the Ermine border, superimposed with a large gold 7-pointed star at the centre, the star bearing a blue roundel with the gold initial 'E', the Royal Crown and a circle of gold roses. It is use in the same manner as the Royal Standard in the United Kingdon, to denote the monach's presence.
The Governor General's Flag
This flag was gazetted for the personal use of the Queen's representative in Australia in 1936. It is a royal blue, twice as long as wide. It bears the Royal Crest in gold ('on a St Edward's Crown a Lion statant guardant also crowned') beneath which is a gold scroll with the words 'COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA' in dark blue letters. It is flown continuously whenever the Govenor General is in residence and on vehicles in which he (or she?) is travelling.
The "Eureka Flag"
This is a famous but unofficial Australian flag, that features a white vertical cross on a blue background five whsite, blue-margined, 8-pointed stars superimposed at the end of each arm of the cross and at the intersection of the arms, a stylized Southern Cross. First used in Victoria in 1854 by a group of rebellious gold-miners protesting the cost of prospecting licences at the 'Eureka stockade', this flag has become the symbol of Australians prepared to fight to defend rights and liberties. It has been adopted as a symbol by some of the more militant trade unions and has also been used as symbol of the republican movement.
The Republican Movement
Associated with recent republican activities in Australian there have been several campaigns to find a new Australian flag and other icons that reflect the 'true Australian identity'. The Eureka flag has been suggested as a suitable replacement for the current Australian flag. One proposal includes a flag with a blue field with a central enlarged Southern Cross. This issue of a new Australian Flag has created a great deal of spirited debate.
The Flag of Aboriginal Australia
This flag was adopted as the symbol of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people when it was first flown in 1971. It is a strident 3-colour flag composed of a large central yellow circle imposed on a background of a red lower half and a black upper half; the black represents the Aboriginal people, the yellow the sun as a life force, the red the earth and the blood of the Aboriginal people. It has no official government standing but is becoming widely recognized and acknowledged by the community and is perhaps the only symbol commonly accepted by the diversity of Aboriginal people.
“Australia’s flag is unique in that it is the only one to fly over an entire continent, and also in the way it was chosen following federation in 1901”. There was a huge response to the competition announced by the new Commonwealth Government – the number of entries was equivalent to about 1% of the Australian population at the time. The judges settled on five designs that were almost identical; so each of the five winners received ₤40 when their names were revealed on 3 September 1901. The winners were:
Annie Dorrington from Perth (who became quite a well-known artist);
Ivor Evans from Melbourne (a 14 year-old schoolboy whose father owned a flag-making business);
Leslie John Hawkins from Leichhardt in NSW (an 18 year-old, apprenticed to an optician);
Egbert John Nuttall from Prahran in Victoria (a 35 year-old architect); and
William Stevens (First Officer in the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand).
