Is now the time to change Australia’s all-too similar state flags?

THEY’RE the unidentifiable symbols of Australia hiding in plain sight. Everywhere yet ignored. Now, some say, it’s time people took notice.

In 2003, then NSW premier Bob Carr presents the NSW flag to the Queensland Premier Peter Beattie after the State of Origin series loss. Picture: Bruce Long.

THEY have been symbols of Australia for more than a century; they predate the Australian flag by decades and have certainly lasted longer than the green and the gold or any chant of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi. But ask just about any Australian to identify them and they’d be stumped.

They are the Australian state and territory flags and you have five seconds to describe yours — starting NOW. Drawing a blank? You’re not alone.

Vice President of Flags Australia, an organisation dedicated to the study of Australian flags, Tony Burton, said recognition of the state flags was, well, flagging.

“It’s true to say that your average Australian might not focus on the state flag in comparison with the national flag,” he told news.com.au.

“I’ve yet to see anyone wearing the NSW flag on their thongs, cape or underpants.”

A 2011 survey by think tank the Australia Institute found half the population could not identify their own state’s flag.

The flags of Victoria and New South Wales fared particularly badly with only 35 per cent and 44 per cent of people respectively picking the right banner. Neither state government makes widespread use of the flag or the symbols upon it, with Victoria preferring its new ‘big V’ logo and NSW opting for an emblem based on the native lotus, sorry I mean waratah, plant.

TOO SIMILAR

University of NSW lecturer in information graphics, and flag fan, Louise Kolff, said the state symbols were past their sell-by date.

“Having lived in NSW for nine years, I have no image in my mind of the state’s flag,” she told news.com.au.

“With their blue backgrounds and the Union Jack in the corner they are too similar to create a distinct visual identity for the states and many of the emblems refer to a colonial past, with symbolism that doesn’t seem relevant.”

The first state flag was Western Australia’s which was adopted in 1870. Featuring a black swan over a yellow disc, it references the foundations of the state at the Swan River Settlement and the sun setting over the ocean. But as Australia didn’t exist as one nation until federation in 1901, it wasn’t a state flag at all but rather that of a British colony directly ruled from London. As such, it made perfect sense to put the emphasis on the Union Flag, the official name for the Union Jack.

FUSS

“Nobody really thought state flags were that important because there was already a flag — the flag of the motherland and as everyone saw themselves as British why fuss about another flag if we’ve already got one,” said Mr Burton.

The banner of NSW features a lion symbolising the UK and monarchy and the four stars are a version of the Southern Cross constellation.

Queensland has a self-explanatory royal crown but the light blue Maltese cross beneath it is more mysterious. “It may have something to do with the first governor of Queensland, George Bowen, being a member of the Order of St Michael and St George which has a similar cross but another story was that his wife was Maltese,” said Mr Burton, “But I would put this in the realm of folklore.”

With Federation in 1901 the former flags of the colonies neatly slipped into becoming the flags of the states. And when a national flag was needed, and the capital at that time was Melbourne, what could be easier than simply nicking Victoria’s flag, slapping on a big new star beneath the Union Jack and hey presto, job done. To this day Victoria’s flag is almost indistinguishable from Australia’s.

NOT EMBRACED

“The similarity to one another of Australia’s state flags speaks to their shared origins as offshoots of the British Empire and egalitarian roots,” says Dr Tony Moore, an expert in national identity at Monash University. “But it fails to recognise that there are distinct differences between the states when it comes to their history, politics and identities perhaps that’s why they haven’t been embraced widely.”

Ms Kolff said to be a success a flag had to contain symbolism that resonated with the people it represented, speak to the outside world, be simple and aesthetically pleasing and easily identifiable. On almost all counts the current state flags were a fail.

“When NSW and Queensland play each other in the State of Origin matches, sports fans pledge their allegiance to the colour of their state, either blue or maroon, an identity absent from the state flags.”

But there are two flags, which have come into being far more recently, which Ms Kolff considers more of a success — those of the Northern and Australian Capital territories. Indeed, the Australian Institute survey revealed 91 per cent of Territorians recognised the NT’s flag. Adopted in 1978, when Canberra devolved day to day running of the state to Darwin, it ditched the Union Jack completely for an ochre, black and white design featuring the Southern Cross and the Sturt’s desert rose flower.

“It is beautiful, simple and easy to recognise,” said Ms Kolff. “To me the black and brown speaks of vast night skies, desert ground, aboriginal culture, of unity, symmetry and flowering life in the midst. If each state adopted a design in line with the NT and ACT flags, with their own existing colours and revised relevant emblems, much stronger identifications with the flags would emerge.”

The basic design of both flags could be used, she said, with the Southern Cross to the left and a distinct emblem to the right but the greater flexibility in terms of colour would ensure they remained unique.

TIME TO CHANGE THE FLAGS?

The states could take the lead in changing their flags, said Ms Kolff, potentially paving the way for a new national flag. “I doubt there would be too many people distraught to see their state flag updated.”

However, in contrast, Mr Burton said with New Zealand and Fiji looking to move away from flags featuring the Union Jack there could be a reason to do nothing.

“If we don’t do anything with our flags we may actually end up with a really distinctive ones.”

Originally published as Is now the time to change Australia’s all-too similar state flags?