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  • The Land
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The Flag

History

When Australia became an independent nation in 1901 it needed a flag to identify itself to the world. A competition to design a national flag was won by five strikingly similar designs. Apart from a minor change in 1908, the flag has remained unchanged since then.

The flag first flew from the Exhibition Building in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. This date has been set aside as Australian National Flag Day.

The flag has accompanied Australians to the ends of the earth - it has been with them to war and on missions of peace; it is often seen on sporting fields of the world and on the roof of the world, and currently flies in Antarctica and in East Timor.

Design

The Australian flag is composed of three parts:

• The Union Jack (British flag) in the top left corner,
• The "Star of Federation" in the bottom left corner, and
• The Southern Cross, taking up the right half of the flag.

The Union Jack shows that the first colonisation by Europeans was by Britain. The Star of Federation is a seven pointed star. They came to the number seven, by giving each state (six in all) a point on the star, and having one more point for Australia's territories (of which there are several). There are two mainland territories, and several overseas, including two in Antarctica. The Southern Cross is a constellation that can be seen from all of Australia's states and territories.

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Information sourced from It's An Honour website and Flags of the World.

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