Australian Aboriginal flag
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2:3 The Australian Aboriginal flag

The Australian Aboriginal flag was originally designed as a protest flag for the land rights movement of Indigenous Australians but has since become a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The flag is a yellow circle on a horizontally divided field of black and red and was designed in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist descended from the Luritja of Central Australia. On 14 July 1995, both the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag were officially proclaimed by the Australian government as "Flags of Australia" under Section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.

Design

Thomas said of the flag's design,

I wanted to make it unsettling. In normal circumstances you'd have the darker colour at the bottom and the lighter colour on top and that would be visibly appropriate for anybody looking at it. It wouldn't unsettle you. To give a shock to the viewer to have it on top had a dual purpose, was to unsettle... The other factor why I had it on top was the Aboriginal people walk on top of the land. It's an obvious fact as well. So it had - that was the reason why the black was on top was visibly unsettling and because of how I was trained at art school, not to make things too obvious but to have a bit of a shock but also to say that the people walk on the land.^[1]

Different explanations have been given for what the colours represent. One view espoused on a government website is "black for Aboriginal people, red for the earth and ochre, used in ceremonies, and yellow to symbolise the sun, the constant renewer of life". ^[2] Black is also said to represent the sky at night, red has sometimes been said to show the blood of Aboriginal people during fighting with white settlers. Thomas himself said that red and yellow were obvious colours to use, since red and yellow ochre were the predominant colours used by his people.

History

Aboriginal flag flying in Victoria square, Adelaide (2008); near where the flag was first flown

The flag was first flown on National Aborigines' Day in Victoria Square in Adelaide on 12 July 1971. It was also used in Canberra at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy from late 1972. In the early months of the embassy—which was established in February that year—other designs were used, including a black, green and red flag made by Sydney supporters, and a flag with a red-black field containing spear and four crescents in yellow.

Cathy Freeman caused controversy at the 1994 Commonwealth Games by waving both the Aboriginal flag and Australian national flag during her victory lap of the arena, after winning the 200 metres sprint; only the national flag is meant to be displayed. Despite strong criticism from both Games officials and the Australian team president Arthur Tunstall, Freeman flew both flags again after winning the 400 metres.

Aboriginal flags in front of Old Parliament House at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra

The decision (by Prime Minister Paul Keating) to make the Aboriginal flag a national flag was opposed by the Liberal Opposition at the time, with John Howard making a statement on 4 July 1995 that "any attempt to give the flags official status under the Flags Act would rightly be seen by many in the community not as an act of reconciliation but as a divisive gesture." ^[3] However since Howard took office in 1996 the flag has remained a national flag. This decision was also criticised by Thomas himself, who said the flag "doesn't need any more recognition" ^[4]

In 1997 the Federal Court of Australia declared that Harold Thomas was the owner of copyright in the design of the Australian Aboriginal flag, and thus the flag has protection under Australian copyright law. Thomas had sought legal recognition of his ownership and compensation following the Federal Government’s 1995 proclamation of the design. His claim was contested by two others, Mr Brown and Mr Tennant. ^[5] Since then Thomas has awarded rights solely to Carroll and Richardson Flags for the manufacture and marketing of the flag.^[6]

The National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at Homebush stadium during the 2000 Olympics.^[7] SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at Olympic venues. [1] The flag was flown over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the march for reconciliation of 2000, and many other events.

On the 30th anniversary of the flag in 2001, thousands of people were involved in a ceremony where the flag was carried from the Parliament of South Australia to Victoria Square. The Aboriginal Flag is permanently flown in Victoria Square and the front of the Town Hall, from 8 July 2002 after recommendations of the Council's Reconciliation Committee. [2]

Use

Aboriginal flag (right), alongside the Eureka Flag on top of the Melbourne Trades Hall

Many buildings in Australia fly the Aboriginal flag as well as the Australian flag, the Melbourne Trades Hall being an example. Various councils in Australian towns fly the Aboriginal flag from the town halls, such as Bendigo (adopted in 2005). [3] The first city council to fly the Aboriginal flag was Newcastle City Council in 1977.^[8]

The Aboriginal flag substitutes the Union Flag in a proposed new Australian flag design

The Aboriginal flag sometimes substitutes the Union Flag in proposed new Australian flag designs. Such flags are presented in science fiction as futuristic Australian flags, as in the film Event Horizon, where it was worn by Sam Neill [4]. Many Aboriginal people object to this use, including Harold Thomas, who said “Our flag is not a secondary thing. It stands on its own, not to be placed as an adjunct to any other thing. It shouldn't be treated that way.” ^[9]

The sale of condoms in the colours of the Aboriginal flag won a public health award in 2005 for the initiative's success in improving safe sex practices among young Indigenous people. [5]

References

Further reading

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 1995.
• Aboriginal flag a symbol of reconciliation, The Sydney Morning Herald, p.13, 6 July 1995. (Preserved at AusFlag)
• Aboriginal flag has many roles, says designer, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 September 1994. (Preserved at AusFlag)
• Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. 1992, 'Torres Strait gets a flag and a major land rights victory', ATSIC News, vol.2, no. 4, p.5.
• Australian Flags 1995, Department of Administrative Services, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
• Horton, D. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 1994.
• Official Australian Government website: It's an Honour - Symbols - Other Australian Flags 2005. Brief flag description.