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Although the Australian Flag is quite attractive, it does not have universal acceptance. In fact, its deficiencies have led to many Australians waving the Eureka Stockade Flag, the Boxing Kangaroo Flag or the Aboriginal Flag in preference. Even those Australians who do wave the flag do so without much respect. It is a common site to see flag wavers letting the corners of the flag touch the ground, or sitting on it as if it were a mere blanket. The disrespect shown to the flag is largely because it evokes few emotions. Symbolically, the Union Jack signals servitude to Britain. The Southern Cross is a constellation visible from the southern hemisphere. The Commonwealth Star says that Australia has six states and some territories. Arguably, the Union Jack is the only element that arouses passions. Unfortunately, it provokes polar opposite emotions in different Australians. Some people argue that the Union Jack is offensive to Aborigines, that it is irrelevant to non-British migrants or just plain unpatriotic for it signals that Britain is superior. For others, the Union Jack is a link to Australia's history and an acknowledgement that Britain has influenced Australia far more than any other country. Britain gave Australia its first city, its language, its legal system and sports such as cricket, soccer and rugby. Either as a foe when shafting Australians at the Eureka Stockade, Gallipoli or during the Bodyline series, or as a friend when giving our Kylie Minogue, Germaine Greer and Clive James a career, Britain has had an influence that no other country can match. Although some people see this lack of unity as a good thing, other people see it as a flaw that needs to be remedied. Consequently, they are pushing for a less divisive flag. The organisation pushing for a change is Ausflag. One of its favoured options is replacing the Union Jack with the Commonwealth Star. The problem with such a flag is that it suffers the same problem as the current flag. Specifically, it is devoid of emotion or symbolic values. It might as well be any old piece of cloth. In the past, Ausflag has promoted value-laden flags. For example, it once promoted flags with a red stripe to signal egalitarianism. The problem with such a flag is that Australia is too multicultural to ever agree on value-laden imagery. Although many Australians love egalitarianism, other hate it on the grounds it is responsible for the infamous tall poppy syndrome. Perhaps these obstacles indicate that the flag designers were going about things the wrong way. They were seeing diversity as a weakness and trying to remedy that weakness with a symbol that would unify. This was a task that was always doomed to fail. Even if they had found values with universal acceptance, too many Australians would have disagreed out of principle alone. Australians just have too much resistance to compulsion. Instead of trying to find symbols that everyone liked, perhaps designers should have thought a bit more laterally and designed a work of art that encourages people to make their own interpretation. Unlike a symbol which only communicates a message, art should encourage people to think.
The Flag of Stars
The Flag of Stars was designed by a Canadian Digger Lieutenant Ross during the Eureka Stockade uprising in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1854. The flag's five stars represent the Southern Cross. The white cross joining the stars represents unity in defiance. The blue background represents the blue shirts worn by the diggers. When it was raised, an Italian miner, Raffaelo Carboni, called on the crowd, "irrespective of nationality, religion and colour", to salute the Southern Cross as the "refuge of all the oppressed from all the countries on earth". Later Carboni reflected: "The maiden appearance of our standard, in the midst of armed men, sturdy, self-overworking diggers of all languages and colours, was a fascinating object to behold. There is no flag in old Europe half so beautiful as the Southern Cross of Ballarat."
In 1971, the Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas designed the flag to be a rallying symbol for the Aborigines in their anti-government protests. The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red the earth and their spiritual relationship to the land, and the yellow the sun, the giver of life. The Aboriginal flag was first raised in Victoria Square in Adelaide on National Aboriginal Day in 1971. It was adopted nationally by Aborigines after it was flown above the Aboriginal "Tent Embassy" outside of the old Parliament House in Canberra. There have been calls for the Aboriginal flag to replace the Union Jack on the official flag. This is unlikely to occur as Harold Thomas has declared his desire for it to remain separate.
In 1983, the yacht Australia II ended the Americans 132 year dominance of the America's cup. However it was the manner of the victory rather than the prize itself that inspired the nation. The yacht's 'winged keel' reflected Australian innovative thinking whilst the very fact that they dared challenged American supremacy typified the Australian underdog's sense of self belief. In subsequent celebrations, wealthy and common Australians cheered side by side, typifying the egalitarian ethic that every democratic society tries to promote. The Boxing Kangaroo was the marketing icon of this victory and like the yacht race, it struck a chord with the Australian public. There have been calls for the boxing kangaroo flag to replace the official flag but critics say it is not sombre enough and associates Australia too closely with sport.
Coat of Arms
All of the Australian flags, both official and unofficial, have been criticised by one group or another. But the Coat of Arms is one symbol that seems to have universal acceptance. An unofficial Coat of Arms was designed for the New Atlas Australia in 1886. A Kangaroo and Emu look curiously at a shield depicting the Eureka Southern Cross and four aspects of Australian industry at that time; mining, wool, wheat and tall ships. It was said that the Kangaroo and Emu are two animals that can not walk backwards and were included as a metaphor of a great Australian trait to leave baggage in the past and look optimistically to the future. In 1912, King George V granted the current Coat of Arms but the symbols of industry were replaced with symbols of the six Australian colonies. A Magpie for South Australia, the Black Swan for Western Australia, a Maltese Cross and Crown for Queensland, a Lion for Tasmania, the Southern Cross for Victoria and the lion and stars representing New South Wales. Beneath the Arms are sprays of golden wattle, Australia's official national floral emblem. In the 1920s, Australia's sporting teams adopted the wattle's green and gold as their official colours. The Coat of Arms has been used for embellishing the Australian passport, the widely recognised badge on the ‘baggy green’ cricket cap, on the back of coins, and on the uniform of the international representative team of Australian football.
Ausflag - History and debate on the national flag Flag Oz- Campaign for a flag featuring a boomerang
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