OUR FLAG

[Heather]

Great poem. Robin Northover is the editor of one of our local newspapers and an extremely talented poet with a very dry sense of humour.

Heather

[Dave Smith]

We've the stars to show where we're going,
And the old flag to show where we've been.

Yair that’s what I just said.

TTFN

[Maureen K Clifford]

Good oh Manfred you were able to put a name of the author to it ... it came to me as A nonny mouse and I have never been able to find anything about him before so didn't go looking. It is a great piece of poetry IMO .... stirs the blood and I think all Australians know their flag - I have never really seen the need to change it.

[Bob Pacey]

Not really concerned about when it offically became our flag but it is just that our flag and you are right we need to know where we came from before we can work out where we are going.

So I'm just gonna pack up my five flags and go do a show nothing like an Aussie flag as a backdrop to a bit of good old Aussie poetry.


Cheers Bob

[Vic Jefferies]

Manfred of course you are right in that the national flag was officially proclaimed in 1953.
However, the following taken from the Australian War Museum web site I think shows that we had our own flag long before 1953 and was in fact approved by King Edward V11 as the flag of Australia in 1903.
Although it is a little confusing in that it speaks of the national flag and then the blue and red ensign I don't think there is much doubt that the final approval in 53 was more of a formality than anything else and a device to standardise the use of the red and blue ensigns.
Notwithstanding this the Museum clearly states that Australians fought under their flag in both world wars and also the Union Jack.
I think it is plainly wrong to say that the Australian flag came into being in 1953.

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.
Top
Proclamation

The Flags Act 1953 proclaimed the Australian blue ensign as the Australian National Flag and the Australian red ensign as the flag for merchant ships registered in Australia.

[manfredvijars]

Goodonya Vic, your same sources will also tell you that the Red Ensign was the predominant 'flag' until the Blue Ensign received Royal acent in 1954.

The reality is that in the two major conflicts, Australians (without and identity crisis) fought under THREE 'Flags' - the Union Flag (Jack), the Red Ensign and the Blue Ensign.

For those that don't want to change the Flag, there's a stronger argument along the lines of, "It took us fifty years to get this (Blue) one ... " rather than, "Thousands died under this (Blue) Flag" (which is inaccurate).

I also believe (and could be wrong here) that the phrases, "Thousands died ... " and "These colors don't run" are originally American phrases.

Respectfully,

Manfred.

[r.magnay]

I don't think we should change the flag, simply because I don't think we should change the flag! The people advocating the change are largely using the argument that we need to break our bond with England...BS...the flag is simply a symbol of where we have been!....it just so happens that we started with the Poms....if we change the flag every time we have a chnge of status in this country someone will have a full time job changing flags.

[manfredvijars]

I agree Rosco ... it took us 50 years to get this one ...

[warooa]

G'day all . . . an old timer I know gets on his hobby horse over this issue, and he's adamant that the red ensign was the predominate Aussie flag from his war time (WW2) memories until 1953. He says they used to call it the "blood'n'guts", and the reason for it being replaced officially in '53 was Bob Menzies and his paranoia about communism.

Personally I couldn't care less if our flag was blue, red, with or without the Union Jack, a green and gold kangaroo or a wombat in a blue singlet and thongs . . but yeah, if it aint broke.

Cheers, Marty

[Neville Briggs]

One of my junior colleagues once very dutifully went and put the flag up outside the station.
The boss came flying through the door in a fury, our young mate had set the flag, upside down. Oh dear oh dear oh dear ..very bad.

Apparently that is the international distress signal...................


Come to think of it...maybe he was right.