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The flag of Australia is blue with the flag of the United Kingdom (the Union Flag) in the canton (the upper hoist-side quadrant), and a large seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star (six points representing the six original states and one point for the territories and any future states of Australia) in the lower hoist-side quadrant; the remaining half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in white with one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. It is a defaced British Blue Ensign - defacement being a term in vexillology referring to the practice of adding badges or symbol to an existing flag. It does not imply debasement.

1 History

The flag was proclaimed by the monarch in 1904 after a design competition (for which the rules implied that a British ensign flag was required). This flag was mainly intended for naval use. Throughout the first fifty years of the Australian colony, the Union Flag was widely used, as was the "" (the same design with a red background) - as the unofficial national flag. On 14th April 1954 the "Blue Ensign" flag became the official Australian flag, though it was not until well into the 1960's that the national flag usurped the Union Flag completely in public consciousness. The blue ensign design was adopted over the red ensign design due to the fact that red was the symbol of communism and the rise of anti-communist feelings in Australia at the time.

2 The flag debate

In connection with the issue of republicanism in Australia, there has been a low-key but persistent debate over whether or not the Australian flag should be changed, particularly in order to remove the Union Flag from the canton. This debate has come to a head at a number of occasions, such as immediately preceding the Australian National Bicentennial in 1988, and also during the Prime Ministership of Paul Keating, who had publicly supported a change in the flag.

2.1 Arguments in favour of flag change

The case for changing the flag has been led by the organisation known as Ausflag . The organisation has not consistently supported one design, but has sponsored a number of design competitions to develop alternative flag candidates.

Supporters of changing the flag typically argue that:

• The flag currently is not distinctive, containing as it does the national flag of another country in a position of prominence. In particular, the flag is difficult to distinguish from a wide variety of flags based on the British Blue Ensign, most notably the national flag of New Zealand and the state flag of Victoria.
• Further to this argument, the flag does not accurately reflect Australia's status as an independent nation. The status of the flag as a defaced Union Ensign suggests Australia is a colony or dependency of Great Britain. New Zealand, Fiji and Tuvalu are the only other independent nations in the world to feature the Union Flag as a component of their national flags. Other CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, mostly formed by the United Kingdom and its former colonies. It was formerly known as the British Commonwealth (or British Commonwealth of Nations , and many still cal countries whose flags originally depicted the British flag, such as CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe, have since changed them. The flag's colours of red, white and blue are neither Australia's official colours (green and gold) nor its traditional heraldic colours (blue and gold).
• In representing only Australia's British heritage, the flag is anachronistic, and does not reflect the change to a multicultural, pluralist society. In particular, the flag makes no mention of indigenous Australians, many of whom regard the Union Flag as a reminder of colonial oppression and dispossesion.
• The flag is not a historically important national symbol. For most of the time since FederationA federation is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states or provinces) united by a central federal government. In a federation the self-governing status of the component states is constitutionally ent, it has been flown alongside the Union Flag, which was equally regarded as an Australian flag. The colour of the flag, as well as the number of points and arrangement of the stars, have been varied since 1901Events January 1 World celebrates what is regarded as the start of the new century. Zero-ists' argument that new century should be celebrated in 1900 rejected worldwide). January 1 The six colonies that make up Australia are federated as under an act of t, and it was not officially adopted in its current form until 1954. Before then, confusion reigned between whether the red or blue version was to be preferred, the red often winning out. Claims that Australians have "fought and died under the flag" are spurious, given that during all the wars Australians have been involved in, they have usually "fought under" the Union Flag and Red Ensign alongside the current Blue Ensign design. The Royal Australian Air ForceRoyal Air Force, with the central circle replaced by a Kangaroo, a symbol of Australia. The Royal Australian Air Force RAAF is Australia's air force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF began in March 1914 as the Australian Flying Corps a and Royal Australian Navy used British flags and insignia in both World Wars. Only the Vietnam War occurred after the official adoption of the present Australian flag. In any case, flags are not literally carried into battle in modern warfare.