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Flag of Australia
The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars (one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars). Australia also has a number of other official flags representing its states and territories, Indigenous peoples and government bodies.
The original version of the flag first flew as the Commonwealth blue ensign on 3 September 1901, after being selected alongside a merchant naval red ensign in a competition held following federation. A slightly simplified version as approved by King Edward VII was officially adopted in 1903. It was later modified to the current design on 8 December 1908, with the change from a six to a seven-point Commonwealth Star.
Initially restricted to government and shipping use, the blue ensign slowly gained prominence as a popular Australian symbol alongside the red ensign, which had less restrictions on its use. At first, the flag remained officially subordinate to the Union Jack and flying the blue ensign alone without the Union Jack could be seen expressing disloyalty to the British Empire. By 1954, however, in line with Australia's increasing independence from the United Kingdom, the blue ensign was designated as the Australian National Flag with the passage of the Flags Act 1953. The act also gave the Australian flag precedence over the Union Jack for the first time. Over time, the use of Union Jacks decreased with most Australians considering the blue ensign the national flag by the 1970s.
The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Jack, Southern Cross, and Commonwealth Star.
Adopted in its current form in 1801, the Union Jack incorporates three heraldic crosses representing the nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as they were constituted at the time:
Located in the canton, the position of honour in the flag, the Union Jack acknowledges the history of British settlement in Australia. Further, the British Admiralty required a flag based on the Blue or Red Ensign for maritime use.
The Commonwealth Star, also known as the Federation Star, is located in the lower hoist quarter. It originally had six points, representing the six federating colonies. In 1908, a seventh point was added to symbolise the Territory of Papua, and any future territories. The Commonwealth Star does not have any official relation to Beta Centauri, despite the latter's brightness and location in the sky; however, the 1870 version of the flag of South Australia featured the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri.
The Southern Cross is located in the fly half of the flag. It is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement. Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to also refer to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on the modern Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, in which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky. The stars are named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet, in decreasing order of brightness in the sky. Alpha was originally larger than Beta and Gamma whilst Delta was originally smaller than Beta and Gamma. In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the size and shape of the four larger outer stars at seven points and each of the same size, leaving the smaller, more central star with five points.[citation needed] This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903.
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Flag of Australia
The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars (one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars). Australia also has a number of other official flags representing its states and territories, Indigenous peoples and government bodies.
The original version of the flag first flew as the Commonwealth blue ensign on 3 September 1901, after being selected alongside a merchant naval red ensign in a competition held following federation. A slightly simplified version as approved by King Edward VII was officially adopted in 1903. It was later modified to the current design on 8 December 1908, with the change from a six to a seven-point Commonwealth Star.
Initially restricted to government and shipping use, the blue ensign slowly gained prominence as a popular Australian symbol alongside the red ensign, which had less restrictions on its use. At first, the flag remained officially subordinate to the Union Jack and flying the blue ensign alone without the Union Jack could be seen expressing disloyalty to the British Empire. By 1954, however, in line with Australia's increasing independence from the United Kingdom, the blue ensign was designated as the Australian National Flag with the passage of the Flags Act 1953. The act also gave the Australian flag precedence over the Union Jack for the first time. Over time, the use of Union Jacks decreased with most Australians considering the blue ensign the national flag by the 1970s.
The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Jack, Southern Cross, and Commonwealth Star.
Adopted in its current form in 1801, the Union Jack incorporates three heraldic crosses representing the nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as they were constituted at the time:
Located in the canton, the position of honour in the flag, the Union Jack acknowledges the history of British settlement in Australia. Further, the British Admiralty required a flag based on the Blue or Red Ensign for maritime use.
The Commonwealth Star, also known as the Federation Star, is located in the lower hoist quarter. It originally had six points, representing the six federating colonies. In 1908, a seventh point was added to symbolise the Territory of Papua, and any future territories. The Commonwealth Star does not have any official relation to Beta Centauri, despite the latter's brightness and location in the sky; however, the 1870 version of the flag of South Australia featured the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri.
The Southern Cross is located in the fly half of the flag. It is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement. Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to also refer to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on the modern Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, in which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky. The stars are named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet, in decreasing order of brightness in the sky. Alpha was originally larger than Beta and Gamma whilst Delta was originally smaller than Beta and Gamma. In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the size and shape of the four larger outer stars at seven points and each of the same size, leaving the smaller, more central star with five points.[citation needed] This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903.