History of flags and flagpoles in Australia

Flags came to Australia on ships. The history of Australian flags runs from the Union Jack raised by explorers and governors, through the colonial and protest flags of the 19th century, to the competition that produced the national flag in 1901, a law that settled its status in 1954 and the recognition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in 1995. The account below follows the booklet Australian Flags from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C).

The Union Jack in Australia

According to PM&C, the Union Jack was first raised in Australia on 29 April 1770 by Captain Cook at Stingray Harbour, later renamed Botany Bay, and again at Possession Island off Cape York on 22 August 1770. Governor Phillip hoisted it at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, marking the first European settlement. The Union Jack in its current form, with the cross of St Patrick, was first flown in Australia in 1801. Before Federation, the colonies flew the flags of the United Kingdom.

Colonial and early Australian flags

As a sense of Australian identity grew, many unofficial flags appeared, most of them with the Southern Cross:

The Eureka flag was raised by gold miners at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854, when they swore an oath to defend their rights. According to PM&C, it is important because of its early use of the Southern Cross but not of the Union Jack. From 1870, each colony adopted a British blue ensign with its own badge, the origin of today’s state flags.

The competition of 1901

After Federation on 1 January 1901, the Commonwealth Government held a flag competition, combined with one run by the Melbourne journal Review of Reviews. There were 32,823 entries, from postage-stamp size to one using about 60 square metres of bunting. The judges chose five almost identical designs and divided the £200 prize between Annie Dorrington, Ivor Evans, Leslie Hawkins, Egbert Nuttall and William Stevens.

The flag was first flown on 3 September 1901, over the dome of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne: a large flag of 5.5 by 11 metres. The design was simplified in 1903, and in 1908 the Commonwealth Star gained its seventh point for the territories.

Blue or red ensign

For decades there was confusion over the two versions. The blue ensign was meant for official and naval use and the red ensign for merchant ships, but the public also flew the red ensign on land, and the Union Jack remained widely used. In 1941, Prime Minister Robert Menzies encouraged the public to fly the blue ensign, and in 1947 Ben Chifley supported this. The Flags Act 1953 took effect on 14 April 1954 and declared the blue ensign to be the Australian National Flag and the red ensign the flag of merchant ships.

Later milestones

• 1971: the Australian Aboriginal Flag, designed by Harold Thomas, is first raised in Adelaide.
• 1992: the Torres Strait Islander Flag is adopted.
• 1995: both flags are proclaimed flags of Australia under the Flags Act.
• 1996: 3 September is proclaimed Australian National Flag Day.
• 1998: the Flags Act is amended so that the national flag can only be changed by a vote of the electors.
• 2022: the copyright of the Aboriginal flag passes to the Commonwealth.

From timber masts to aluminium poles

Traditionally, flagpoles and flag masts were made of timber, and much of their vocabulary, such as yardarm, gaff and halyard, comes from sailing ships. Today most flagpoles in Australia are aluminium, according to the Victorian Department of Education, which notes that heritage schools and facilities may still require a timber pole. The materials are compared in the guide to flagpole materials, the meaning of the flag in the guide to the Australian flag, and the other official flags in the guide to flag types.