The Australian Flag

The decision to have a flag to represent Australia!

By Nikolas!

Timeline

Date What happened

1787 13th may to 1830s

Australia used the union jack as their flag.

1830s Attempt to create Australian flag which is now known as the federation flag. They used it until 1953.

1901 1st January The commonwealth of Australia was formed.

1901 3rd September

The decision (by the Commonwealth Government of Australia) of having a Australian flag.

1902 King Edward VII approved the Australian flag.

1908 The Commonwealth Government added a point to the commonwealth star on the Australian flag.

2001 3rd september

The 100th anniversary of the Australian flag.

The OutcomeThe Commonwealth of Australia (the Government of Australia) was formed in 1901. That was when the Australian Government decided to have its own flag. Before this, Australia was using Britain’s flag, the Union Jack (the Union Jack is on the top left corner of the Australian flag). There was also a different flag for each State and Territory. The Commonwealth Government had a competition to design a flag and who ever won got their flag used for the Australian flag and ₤200.

Five people won the prize and shared the money and they were: Ivor Evans, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne; Leslie John Hawkins, a teenager getting taught to be an optician by a Sydney optician; Egbert John Nuttall, a Melbourne architect; Annie Dorrington, an artist from Perth; and William Stevens, a ship’s officer from Auckland, New Zealand. (They all got ₤40 pounds each). This happened in 1901.

The Outcome 2

ConsequencesSome Australians think the Australian flag shouldn’t be changed because the flag is popular and there won’t be enough people to like a new flag. Also, everyone has been brought up with this flag.

When the Commonwealth of Australia made the flag, people weren’t sure about it. It looked the same as the Victorian flag, only with another star. They also had the flag come in two different ensigns (backgrounds), blue or red. The blue was only allowed to be used by the Commonwealth Government while the red was used by state and local governments and everyone else.

Consequences 2 Even though the new Australian flag was created in 1901, the Federation Flag was still the most used.

Now, there are lots of people in Australia who want to change the Australian flag. They think that having the Union Jack on the flag makes us more like Britain and not our own country. Some Australians want to change the Australian flag.

Some Australians think that they don’t need the Union Jack on there flag. Some even think instead of the Union Jack they should have the aboriginal flag on it.

My OpinionThis is my design for the Australian flag:

On my Australian flag I have the shape of Australia in the aboriginal flag colours. Instead of the circle in the aboriginal flag I made it the commonwealth star. I also have the southern cross because I think it should always be apart of the Australian flag.

Five other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations have

the Union Jack on it (including the United Kingdom), why

should we be like them why can’t we be different?

My Opinion 2

Glossary

Architect: a person who designs buildings.Commonwealth government: Australia’s government.Optician: A person who creates lenses for glasses.Union jack: the U.K’s flag.

!!!!!The end!!!!!

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