List of Australian flags

This is a list of flags of different designs that have been used in Australia.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Australia.

National flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1901–1903	Historic flag, original 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition winner	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (each star had a varying number of points: 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5). It was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. That day is known as Flag Day.
	1903–1908	Historic national flag as approved by King Edward VII	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (all stars had seven points, except the smallest star only had 5 points).
	1908–present	Australian National Flag, naval jack and state ensign	A Blue Ensign defaced with the seven-point Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1908–present	Vertical flag of Australia

Other flags recognised under the Flags Act 1953[]

Sources: ^[1][2]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1971–present	Australian Aboriginal Flag	A black and red flag with a yellow circle in the middle.
Link to file	1992–present	Torres Strait Islander Flag	A five-pointed star and traditional headdress in white, on a blue, green and black background.

Personal flags[]

Sovereign[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1962–present	Personal Australian Flag of Queen Elizabeth II	Consists of a banner of the coat of arms of Australia, defaced with a gold seven-pointed federation star with a blue disc containing the letter E below a crown, surrounded by a garland of golden roses.

Governor-General[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1902–1909	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A Union Flag defaced with a six pointed star, crowned, surrounded by ears of corn and a gold circlet. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.
	1909–1936	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A Union Flag defaced with a seven pointed star, crowned, surrounded by ears of corn and a gold circlet. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.
	1936–1953	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A crowned lion standing on a crown on a blue field. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.
	1953–present	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A crowned lion standing on a crown on a blue field. The crown used is St Edward's Crown.

State Governors[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1981–present	Flag of the Governor of New South Wales	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1876–present[a]	Flag of the Governor of Queensland	The Union Flag defaced with the state badge.
	1975–present	Flag of the Governor of South Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1977–present	Flag of the Governor of Tasmania	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1984–present	Flag of the Governor of Victoria	The State Flag with a yellow field and crowned southern cross.
	1988–present	Flag of the Governor of Western Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge.

Prime Minister[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1950s–1966	Car Flag of the Prime Minister of Australia	The Australian national flag defaced with the coat of arms of Australia placed between the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross. Used by Robert Menzies in the 1950s and 1960s.[3][4][5]

Coronation Standards[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1911	Old Coronation Standard	Banner of arms of Australia
	1937 and 1953	Coronation Standard	Banner of arms of Australia

Civil ensigns[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1901–1903	Red version of the 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition winner	A British Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (each star had a varying number of points: 9, 8, 7, and 6).
	1903–1909	Red Ensign as approved by King Edward VII	A Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (all stars had seven points).
	1909–present	Australian Red Ensign	A British Red Ensign with the Commonwealth Star at the hoist, and the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1935–1948	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in yellow.
	1948–present	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in white.

Australian Defence Force[]

Royal Australian Navy[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1911–1967	Royal Australian Navy Ensign	St George's Ensign or White Ensign: white field defaced with a thin Cross of Saint George, Union Flag in the first quarter. It was replaced by the Australian White Ensign.
	1967–present	Australian White Ensign	Based on the British White Ensign, a version of the national flag with a white field and the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross in blue.
	1920–present	Flag of the Chief of Navy	A fouled anchor on a red-blue background.
	1956–1972	Sea Cadet Corps	A blue ensign with the badge of the Sea Cadet Corps in the fly. Replaced by the Naval Reserve Cadets Ensign.
	1972–2001	Naval Reserve Cadets Ensign	A blue ensign with the Australian White Ensign in canton and the badge of the Naval Reserve Cadets in the fly. Replaced by the Australian Navy Cadets Ensign.
Link to file	2001–present	Australian Navy Cadets Ensign	A blue ensign with the Australian White Ensign in canton and the badge of the Australian Navy Cadets in the fly.

Royal Australian Air Force[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1921–1948	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The British Royal Air Force Ensign.
	1948–1982	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel placed in the lower fly.
	1982–present	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel (Kangaroo) placed in the lower fly.
	1982–present	Flag of the Australian Air Chief Marshal	Five horizontal stripes of dark blue, light blue, red, light blue and dark blue, four six-pointed stars in the middle stripe.

Australian Border Force[]

The department names of Australia's border protection service have slightly changed over time, they are as follows;

• Department of Trade and Customs (1 January 1901 – 1956)
• Department of Customs and Excise (1956–1975)
• Department of Police and Customs (1975–1975)
• Department of Business and Consumer Affairs (1975–1982)
• Department of Industry and Commerce (1982–1984)
• Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce (1984–1985)
• Australian Customs Service (1985–2009)
• Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (2009–2015)
• Australian Border Force (2015–Present)

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1901–1903	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"
	1903–1904	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"
	1904–1909	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC"
	1909–1988	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC"
	1988–2015	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "CUSTOMS"
	2015	Australian Border Force Flag as used temporarily	The Australian national flag defaced with "BORDER FORCE"
	2015–present	Australian Border Force Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE"

Federal and state police[]

This section needs expansion with: Dates for Victoria Police and Tasmania Police flags needed. You can help by . (October 2014)

Flag	Date	Use	Description
Link to file	1982–present	Flag of the Australian Federal Police	A black-white-black vertical tricolor, with the badge of the Australian Federal Police in the centre of the white stripe. A black-and-white checkerboard borders the flag.
	1981–present	Flag of the New South Wales Police Force	An azure-and-white horizontal bicolor with the badge of the New South Wales Police Force in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	2006–present	Flag of the Northern Territory Police	A variant of the Northern Territory flag with the Northern Territory Police badge replacing the flower in the fly.
Link to file	2006–present	Flag of the Queensland Police Service	A light blue-and-dark blue horizontal bicolor with the badge of the Queensland Police Service in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	1993–present	Flag of the South Australia Police	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the South Australia Police within a white disk.
	??–present	Flag of the Tasmania Police	An azure flag with the badge of the Tasmania Police in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	??–present	Flag of the Victoria Police	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the Victoria Police.
Link to file	2005–present	Flag of the Western Australia Police	A white flag with a stylised depiction of a swan and checkerboard in blue, with the Western Australia Police emblem added.

Commonwealth Lighthouse Service[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Lighthouse Service Flag (Government Ship)	Flag of Australia Inside the Southern Cross is a lighthouse service badge.
		Lighthouse Service Flag (Private Boat)	Civil ensigns, at the bottom of the flag is the lighthouse service badge.

Emergency Services and Health Care flags[]

Flag	Date	Organisation	Description
	1984 - Present	New South Wales Ambulance
		Fire and Rescue New South Wales
		New South Wales Rural Fire Service
		New South Wales State Emergency Service
		Victoria State Emergency Service
	1959-Present	Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia	Replaced in general use in 1993 due to a rebranding, the flag however isn't considered obsolete as its still used for official engagements.
	1978-Present	Western Australia Fire and Rescue Service

Sporting flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1908–1912	Flag of the Australasian Olympic Team	A Blue Ensign defaced by a white circle containing the British Crown plus a shield containing the Southern Cross.
Link to file	1983–present	Boxing Kangaroo sporting flag	A golden kangaroo wearing red boxing gloves on a green field.
	2000	Sydney Olympics sporting flag	[6]
	2006	Melbourne Commonwealth Games sporting flag	[6]

Vexillology Association flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of the Flag Society of Australia Inc.

States and territories[]

States[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1876–present	Flag of New South Wales	A St George's Cross with four gold stars and a lion in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1876–present[a]	Flag of Queensland	A light blue Maltese cross with a crown on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1904–present	Flag of South Australia	A piping shrike on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1875–present	Flag of Tasmania	A red lion on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1877–present[a]	Flag of Victoria	The Southern Cross surmounted by a crown in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1953–present	Flag of Western Australia	A black swan on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign.

Historical[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1867	Flag of New South Wales
	1870–1876	Flag of New South Wales
	1870–1876	Flag of Queensland
	1901–1952	Flag of Queensland
	1870–1876	Flag of South Australia
	1876–1904	Flag of South Australia
	1875	Flag of Tasmania
	1870-1877	Flag of Victoria
	1877	Flag of Victoria
	1877-1901	Flag of Victoria
	1901–1952	Flag of Victoria
	1870–1953	Flag of Western Australia

Internal territories[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1993–present	Flag of the Australian Capital Territory	One third blue with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are yellow with the Coat of Arms of Canberra.
	1978–present	Flag of the Northern Territory	One third black with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are brown with Sturt's Desert Rose, the floral emblem of the Territory.

External territories[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	2002–present	Flag of Christmas Island	The blue and green diagonal panels represent the sea and the island's vegetation, a small map of the island is included in the centre. The main emblem is a golden bosun bird. The flag was selected from a competition held in 1986 and was approved in 2002.
	2004–present	Flag of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands	The flag is green, with a palm tree on a gold disc in the canton, a gold crescent for the Cocos Malay people in the centre of the flag and a gold southern cross in the fly. The flag was designed in 2003 becoming official in 2004.
	1980–present	Flag of Norfolk Island	A green field with a white square containing a green Norfolk Island pine.

Historical[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1914–1949	Flag of the Territory of New Guinea	British blue ensign with a white disk on the fly, filled with the Tudor Crown and the initials ���T.N.G.”
	1902–1949	Flag of the Territory of Papua	British blue ensign with a white disk on the fly, filled with the Tudor Crown and the initials “Papua”.
	1971–1975	Flag of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea	The upper triangle is red with the soaring Raggiana Bird of Paradise and the lower triangle is black with the Southern Cross of four white larger five-pointed stars and the smaller star.

Cities and areas[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1982–present	Armorial Flag of the City of Adelaide	Blue background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined in gold overlain with the Arms of the City of Adelaide. Flag bordered on three sides by diagonal blue and gold stripes.[7]
	1947–present[8]	Flag of the City of Brisbane	Blue background (representing the Brisbane River) bordered by a golden checker pattern (representing the Sun and Brisbane's warm climate) with the flag divided into six quarters. The upper hoist quarter contains a golden caducei superimposed on wavy white lines, representing the Brisbane River and its ties to the city's commerce. The lower hoist quarter contains two Stafford knots and a white star arranged vertically (all represent the achievements in astronomy of Sir Thomas Brisbane, for whom the city is named). The remaining segments alternate between these two designs. The flag design is based on the shield on the coat of arms of Brisbane.[9][10]
	2009–present	Flag of the City of Darwin	According to council policy, Darwin maintains two flags.[11] The policy reads "One flag will contain the official Coat of Arms, with its nine colours and the CITY OF DARWIN printed underneath in blue, on a yellow background flanked by red and green. The other flag will contain the City Logo and be in the colours of blue, green and white, on a white background."[12]
		Flag of the City of Hobart	The flag of Hobart City Council, of Tasmania, Australia. Designed in 1951 by Hobart architect and alderman, I.G. Anderson and first flown in 1953. The star is derived from the arms of Lord Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760–1816), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time of colonial settlement (1804), and after whom Hobart is named. The colour used on the arms Lord Hobart was, in fact, sable (black), rather than blue. The red lion is from the Tasmanian flag – and its location at the top of the shield signifies Hobart's position as the Capital City.[13]
		Flag of the City of Launceston	The Launceston flag design is based on the city's Coat of Arms granted by the College of Arms, London on 11 June 1957.[14] The Brisbane Street Mall, the War memorial at Royal Park, the original Queen Victoria Museum (now the Art Gallery) building, atop the Council Chambers and on top of the Albert Hall are places in the city where the flag is regularly flown. The three intersecting lines in the flag represent the city's three rivers (North Esk, South Esk and Tamar) and the two rectangles in the lines represent tin ingots. The strip across the top with the jagged edge is green to represent the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside. Waratah flowers at the top symbolise all flowers and similar beauties of nature. The ingots are included because Launceston used to be a large tin smelting centre. The little circle at the river junction is Launceston.
		Flag of the City of Melbourne	White background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined by a concise and overlain with St Edward's Crown. Quadrant features represent the main activities of the economy of the City of Melbourne in the mid 19th century and are, in a clockwise direction from top left, a fleece hanging from a red ring (wool), a black bull standing on a hillock (cattle), a three-mast ship in full sail (shipping), and a spouting whale in the sea (whaling). The flag design is identical to the shield on the coat of arms of Melbourne.[15]
	1961–present	Flag of the City of Newcastle	The colours are brown over green, taken from the shoulder patch of a Battalion raised in the Newcastle/Hunter region. The shield has a gold chief, containing a black diamond, a white sheep's fleece banded gold and a black wheel, representing the principal pursuits of the area: coal mining, farming and grazing, and industry and trade. Below this, the field is green, with a blue downward pointed triangle (pile) bordered gold, portraying a port with the waters of the sea thrusting into the green land. Fertility is emphasised by the gold border. The crest is a lighthouse, for the Nobby's Head lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour, and sits on a helmet with mural crown (city status) and blue, green and gold mantling. The arms stand on a compartment depicting the golden sand and white waves of the city's beaches (with a scroll inscribed "Enterprise") and are supported by two seagulls with mural crowns (the setting and nature of the city).[16]
	1949–present	Flag of the City of Perth	Saint George's Cross overlaid with the City of Perth Coat of Arms in the centre.[17]
	1908–present	Flag of the City of Sydney	The flag is a horizontal triband of three colours – white, gold and blue. The top third features three designs. In the top left the arms belong to Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney, after whom the city was named. The English Naval Flag in the centre acknowledges the role Arthur Philip played in Sydney's foundation. The red cross is overlaid with a globe and two stars – the principal features of James Cook's Arms, which were granted as a posthumous honour for his service in mapping Australia. The arms in the top right belong to the first Lord Mayor of Sydney, Thomas Hughes. It was during his term of office that the title of Mayor became Lord Mayor, and the official coat of arms for the city was granted. The remaining field of the flag features a ship under full sail, an allusion to the prominence of Sydney as a maritime port.[18]
	circa 1960–2008	Flag of the City of Toowoomba	The flag of Toowoomba city is a violet coloured ensign which makes reference to the city's floral emblem of the day, the Toowoomba Violet (aka the sweet violet, Lat. 'Viola odorata').[19] Notable is the city's coat of arms [20] in the centre of the ensign and the city's name on the left of the flag, lettered from top to bottom.[21]
	2008–present	Flag of Toowoomba	A new Toowoomba flag was created in 2007 and became the official flag of the Toowoomba Region on 15 March 2008 with the amalgamation of 8 councils; The councils were Clifton Shire, Crows Nest Shire, Cambooya Shire, Jondaryan Shire, Millmerran Shire, Pittsworth Shire, Rosalie Shire and Toowoomba City.[22] The predominant colours are white and teal. The three white rings in the flag intersect to create eight spaces from their loops and exterior, symbolising the unity of the eight amalgamated former councils. The colour of teal also represents unity.[23]
Link to file	1965–present	Flag of Wagga Wagga	Officially, the Wagga Wagga City Flag is square.[24] The upper quarter of the flag contains eight stalks of wheat positioned so as to form two capital letters W on a vert (green) field. The lower quarter of the upper half of the flag contains a wavy blue line on gold (yellow) representing the river winding through the wheat fields. The lower half of the flag contains the head of a ram positioned centrally on a vert (green) field.
	1850–present	Upper Murray River Flag	Flown by vessels on the upper reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in Victoria. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system and their dark hue represents the darker colour of the Murray River's darker waters in Victoria and NSW.
	1850–present	Lower Murray River Flag	Flown by vessels on the lower reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in South Australia. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system and their light hue represents the lighter colour of the Murray River's lighter waters in South Australia.
	1998–present	Flag of Lord Howe Island, New South Wales	Despite being an unofficial flag of a state-integrated island, it is used to represent the island.

Political flags[]

Religious flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of the Anglican Church of Australia	A red St. George's Cross bordered in white, on a field of dark blue, with four white eight pointed stars in each of the four quarters. In the centre is a gold bishop's mitre.
		Flag of the Grand Orange Lodge of Australia	An orange ensign with the Australian flag in the canton and an open book surmounted by a Saint Edward's Crown in the lower fly.
		Flag of the Loyal Orange Institution of Victoria	An orange ensign with a Saint George's Cross in the canton, and a Southern Cross with a Saint Edward's Cross above it and an open book below it in the fly.

Ethnic groups flags[]

Indigenous[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	2011–present	Flag of Adnyamathanha[25]
	1972–present	Flag of the Larrakia people[26]
	2013–present	Flag of Muruwari[27]
	1992–present	Flag of Meriam – Murray Island[28]	The flag of Murray Island is made of three vertical stripes, red-white-black. In canton, a brown leaf is placed in a white disk. Eight white six-pointed stars surround the disk.
	1999–present	Flag of Ngarrindjeri[29]
		Flag of Saibai Island[30]
Link to file	1995–present	Flag of Tunuvivi[31]

Immigrants[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	2004–present	Flag of Cornish Australians	St. Piran's Cross with the Southern Cross in the canton.
		Flag of English Australians	Flag of England with blue Southern Cross in the canton.
	1988–present	Flag of Irish Australians	Green field with a white Southern Cross in the canton and a golden harp in the middle.
	1991–present	Flag of	Red field with the Triskelion in the middle, which is surrounding by Southern Cross.
	1988–present	Flag of Scottish Australians	Flag of Scotland with the Scottish arms in the middle, which is surrounding by Southern Cross.
		Flag of South Sea Islanders
		Flag of Welsh Australians	Flag of Wales with a green Southern Cross in the canton.

Historical flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1788–1801	Union Flag	The Union Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Raised by Captain Arthur Phillip RN on 26 January 1788 at Sydney Cove upon the landing of the First Fleet.
	1801–1903	Union Flag	The Union Flag of the United Kingdom.
	1806	Bowman Flag	A white swallow-tail fly, with a crest featuring the Rose of England, the thistle of Scotland and the shamrock of Ireland supported by an emu and kangaroo. The design was an inspiration for Australia's National Coat of Arms.
	1823/24–1831	National Colonial Flag for Australia	A British White Ensign, featuring four white stars on the red cross
	1830s–1920s	Australian Federation Flag	A British White Ensign, featuring the cross in blue with five white stars. It was the de facto flag of Australia from 1 January 1901 to 3 September 1901.
	1831-1883	New South Wales Ensign
	1849–1853	Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag	British Blue Ensign, with yellow Southern Cross and white border, to which branch names were added
	1850s–1875	Van Diemen's Land Ensign	A British White Ensign, featuring six blue bars
	1854	Eureka Flag	The battle flag of the Eureka Stockade featured the five stars of the constellation Crux Australis in white on a white cross and blue field
	1859	Queensland Separation Flag	The Queensland Separation Flag, flown on 10 December 1859 to mark Queensland becoming a separate colony from New South Wales. A red cross on a light blue field, with the Union Jack in the canton.
	1915-1916	"The Men From Snowy River" flag used during World War I snowball marches
	1918	Australian Honour Flag	Awarded to towns who exceeded double their quota of war funding.
	1988	Bicentennial Flag	The 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia[6]
	2001	Centenary of Federation Flag	The 100th anniversary of Federation – the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia[6]

House flags of Australian freight companies[]

Flag	Date	Company	Description
	1875-2006	Adelaide Steamship Company
	1887-1961	Australasian United Steam Navigation Company
		Sydney Ferries

Yacht clubs of Australia[]

Flag	Club
	Black Rock Yacht Club
	Balmain Sailing Club
	Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
	Hamilton Island Yacht Club
	Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
	Royal Perth Yacht Club
	Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania
	Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
	Sandringham Yacht Club
	Sun City Yacht Club
	Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
	Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club
	Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
	Manly Yacht Club
	Little Ship Yacht Club
	Royal Motor Yacht Club of New South Wales

Other flags/Microstate flags[]

• 

  Flag of the "Dominion of Westralia" as proposed in 1934

• 

  Province of Bumbunga

• 

  Principality of Hutt River

• 

  Empire of Atlantium

• 

  Aeterna Lucina

• 

  Murrawarri Republic

See also[]

• List of proposed Australian flags
• Advance Australia Fair
• Australian flag debate
• Flag of New Zealand

Notes[]

References[]