POLICY

GOVERNMENT

ECONOMY

AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL COLOURS

AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL FLORAL EMBLEM

AN AUSTRALIAN FAUNAL EMBLEM: THE EMU

AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL GEMSTONE

AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL ANTHEM

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL FLAG

The Australian Flag is major national symbol, both within Australia and overseas. It belongs equally to all Australians and anyone in Australia may fly it.
In 1901, the newly-formed Federal Government announcad for a design for a flag.
There were 33, 823 entries submitted, and these were displayed and judged in September, 1901. Common ingredients of the designs were: the map of Australia, the Southern Cross, the Union Jack, kangaroos, emus, kookaburras, crowns and stripes. It took two months to display all the entries, and then after six days of inspection, the judges favoured five very similar entries. All five had used the six-pointed federal star, the Union Jack and the Southern Cross. The winning design, the judges said, had three outstanding qualities: it showed the Federation of the once-separate Australian colonies (now states); it was distinctive – it displayed the Southern Cross, brightest constellation in the Southern Hemisphere; and by its display of the Union Jack, it illustrated Australia’s loyalty to the then British Empire.
King Edward VII approved the design chosen for Australia’s National Flag in February, 1903.
The Australian National Flag has a spacious blue background and depicts three symbols: the Commonwealth Star, the stars of the Southern Cross and the Union Flag.

The Commonwealth Star:

The Commonwealth Star has seven points, one for each State and one for the additional territories. At Federation (1 January, 1901) it was called a Federation Star and it had only six points, one for each colony.

The Southern Cross:

The five white stars of the Southern Cross are prominently displayed against the blue on the fly of the flag. The four large stars all have seven points and the small star has five points.

The Union Flag:

A quarter of the Australian National Flag represents British heritage. It is the ‘Union’ Flag of England, Scotland and Ireland. On 26 January, 1788, the Union Flag was first raised in Australia at Sydney Cove, marking the beginning of white settlement.
The presence of the Union Flag on Australia’s National Flag represents the following factors of Australian society:

• Australia’s history of discovery, early white settlement and exploration were accomplished by the British Empire.

• The common language spoken in Australia is English.

• The Monarch of Britain is also the Monarch of Australia (Queen or King).

• Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, of which the Monarch of Britain is the leader.

• Australia’s Government is based on the British Westminster System.

THE  COMMONWEALTH COAT OF ARMS

The design of the Coat of Arms is of special significance, and each element, for example the colours, crest, wreath and border, has a special significance too.
The Coat of Arms consists of a shield composed of ‘quarters’ representing the six States of the Commonwealth enclosed by an ermine border. The quarters provide a place for each of the States on the shield. The ermine border signifies the federation of the States into the Commonwealth.
The Crest of the Arms is a seven-pointed gold star symbolic of national unity on a gold and blue wreath, which is a traditional element represented as a twisted ribbon or Torse of the two alternate colours gold and blue. A star of six points was originally chosen to represent the six States but a seventh point was added to represent the territories of the Commonwealth before the design was finalised. This seven-pointed star is also used on the Australian National Flag and is termed the Commonwealth Star.
The supporters, the kangaroo and the emu, as typical Australian fauna, identify the Arms as being exclusively Australian.