History - Flags of Australia

Flags of Australia

This is the flag of Australia. 

In 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was formed.  Until this time, Australia used Britain's flag, the Union Jack.  A competition was held to find the design for Australia's own flag.  Five designers shared the prize because they came up with similar ideas for the Australian flag.

In the top left hand corner is the Union Jack.  This shows that Australia is part of the British Commonwealth.  Beneath the Union Jack is a large white star with seven points.  The points represent the six states and the territories.  Originally this star had six points.  The seventh point, for the territories was added in 1908.

On the right hand side are the stars of the Southern Cross.  The southern Cross was chosen because it can always be seen in the Australian sky at night.

This is the Australian Aboriginal Flag . 

    Black - represents the Aboriginal people of Australia.

Red - represents the red earth, the red ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual relation to the land. 

Yellow disk - represents the Sun, the giver of life and protector. 

The Australian Aboriginal flag was designed by Aboriginal artist, Harold Thomas, in 1971. It was first raised on 12th July that year.  The flag was originally designed to recognise land rights and has now become a widely recognised symbol of the unity and identity of Aboriginal people.  In July 1995, the Australian  Aboriginal flag was made a ‘Flag of Australia’. The Australian Aboriginal flag should be flown or displayed with the black at the top and the red at the bottom. 

This is the 

Green - symbolises the land.

Blue - rep resents the waters of the Torres Strait.

Black - Signifies the Torres Strait Islanders themselves.

White - Symbolises peace.

White Star - Represents the Five major island groups.

White Dhari - (Dancer’s headdress) symbolises the Torres Strait Islander People.

Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag Collage Art Activity (source Teach Starter)

(print this at home, or ask your teacher to print these at school and you can complete it during school time)

This is what you will create

What you need:
 • Blank Australian flag  (below)
• Blank Aboriginal flag  (below)
• magazines
• scissors
• glue

Method
1. Use the pictures of the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags above  as a guide.
2. Search through old magazines. Cut out images of things that have red and blue shades (for the Australian flag) and red, yellow and black shades (for the Aboriginal flag) and black, blue and white (for the Torres Strait Islander Flag)
3. Rip the images into small pieces. Ripping gives the edges a rough look and contributes to the collage effect.
4. Stick the magazine pieces onto each flag in the correct sections, creating a collage effect. Don’t worry if there are slightly different shades of colour – this adds to the effect.
5. Make sure you can only see white where there is supposed to be white on the flag.
6. When you are finished, write a small paragraph about what the colours and symbols of each flag represent.