By Joshua

The Australian Flag

About the Australian Flag

The Australian Flag is a symbol to show us to have respect for one another and to always be happy. The Australian Flag was first flown in 1901, January the 1st (New Year’s Day) and it’s never changed since.

History of the Australian FlagThe Australian National Flag was the first national flag

chosen in an open public competition. Sir Edmund Barton (the Prime Minister of Australia in 1901) chose 5 designs from 5 people around the country.

They were Ivor Evans (a fourteen year old school boy from Melbourne), Leslie John Hawkins (a school student from Sydney), Egbert John Nuttall (an architect from Melbourne), Annie Whistler Dorrington (an artist from Perth) and Williams Stevens (a ship’s officer from New Zealand).

Elements on the Australian Flag The elements on the Australian Flag are the Union

Jack, the Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star) and the Southern Cross.

The Australian Flag represents happiness and freedom.

The Union JackThe Union Jack represents the British Commonwealth.

Countries that are part of the British Commonwealth need to have the Union Jack in their flag. Being part of the British Commonwealth means the country’s head of state is the British Monarchy (which is the royal family).

The diagonal line crossing from right to left on the Union Jack represent St Edward and the left to right diagonal line represents St Patrick who are important saints.

The Commonwealth Star

The Commonwealth Star is also known as the Federation Star.

The seven points on the Commonwealth Star represents the states and territories of Australia (NSW - New South Wales, WA - Western Australia, SA - South Australia, TAS - Tasmania, VIC - Victoria, NT -Northern Territory and QLD - Queensland).

The Southern CrossThe constellation of the five stars on the right hand side on

the Australian Flag represents the Southern Cross. As you can see the picture on the bottom, the star with the

circle is the Alpha 1 Crux; on the left side of the circle is the Delta Crux; underneath the circle is the Beta Crux; on the opposite side to the Alpha 1 Crux is the Gamma Crux; in between the Delta Crux and the Alpha 1 Crux is a little star called the Epsilon Crux; near the bottom right corner is the Alpha Centauri and next to it on a small angle is the Beta Centauri.

The Australian Flag DebateThe Australian Flag Debate was trying to decide if the

Australian flag should be changed. It was mostly about wanting to take away the Union

Jack from the flag, but also to maybe bring together a completely new design without the Southern Cross.

The debate has come to a head on a number of times, such as the time near the Australian Birthday in 1988 and also during the Prime Minister ship of Paul Keating, who wanted to change the flag.

The Consequences

Many people want to change the Australian National Flag and replace the Union Jack with an Australian animal (Example a kangaroo or a wallaby).

If the flag was changed, I would go for the kangaroo with the Southern Cross on its left side.

Below are some other designs people have come up with.

The ConsequencesAnother consequence that occurred during the flag

debate was people decided to burn the flag in front of the Parliament House.

The government ordered the police officers to get it under control.

Most of the protestors received a fine and others were sent to jail for 13 years.

Here is a picture of how the protestors burned the flag

Pie ChartsThe Australian Flag has now been flying around for 100 years. Is the design going to be the same for the next 100 years?The votes are below:Yes: 32.94% (Red)No: 64.71% (Blue)

Will the Australian Flag design change in 100 years?

YesNo

Pie Charts (Survey by 6M)

Do you think we should change the flag?