A number of the flag designs that have been proposed in the past are set out on this page so as to provide an indication as to the range of designs that might result from any future formal process to change the design of the Australian National Flag. Inclusion of any proposed design on this website does not imply any advocacy or endorsement of a design.
A great resource for designing any flag is the publication design "Good" Flag, "Bad" Flag compiled by Ted Kaye of the North American Vexillolgoical Association. Following is a link to the PDF.
Another design resource is the book "Vexillogistics" by Tony Burton, which is available from the author - see link on this website.
AUSFLAG:
Ausflag has regularly promoted alternative flag designs including the holding of public design competitions. A number of the flags that Ausflag has promoted are:
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Wayne Stokes 1986 - Winner of the Ausflag 88 flag competition in the Bulletin magazine. | |
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Lunn-Dyer and Associates 1987 - Ausflag 88 promoted two new flag designs. | |
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Ausflag 1991 - Second promotion reverted to the Southern Cross in a choice of blue or green | |
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Mark Tucker 1993 - Winner of second Ausflag national flag competition | |
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Harold Scruby 1994 - Third promotion tested kangaroo in Aboriginal colours. Voted 3rd place in internet poll associated with Ausflag's 1997-2000 design competition. | |
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Ken Done 1995 - A commercial designer and Ausflag promoted Southern Cross in gold with a choice of blue or green flag. | |
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Harold Scruby 1997 - Fifth promotion, acknowledged to be an adaptation of Tony Burton's 1993 design (see below) |
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Franck Gentil 2000 - Overall winner of Ausflag Professional Design Competition, which commenced in 1997. | |
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George Margaritis 2000 - Second prize in Ausflag Professional Design Competition and voted as the People's Choice in internet poll. | |
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Sporting Flag 2013 - Ausflag created this flag to be used at international sporting events as a distinctively Australian flag, capable of replacing various poorly designed supporter flags. Designed by Dr Anthony Gooley and modified by Ausflag. |
INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS:
A number of Australians have proposed new designs for an Australian national flag. Some featured in Ausflag and non-Ausflag design competiitions and others have been independently promoted on the internet and social media by their designers. A selection of these designs, most of which have been featured in Crux Australis, is listed below. More information on many of the more recent flag proposals can also be found on the web sites of their designers.
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Eureka flag 1854 - Numerous people have advocated that the Eureka flag be adopted as a new Australian national flag. It is undoubtedly a significant historical flag, but many argue that its past associations with a broad spectrum of political and social groups makes it usuitable as a national flag. The white stars on white cross is problematic from a design perspective. The author and journalist Peter FitzSimons is a prominant advocate for adopting the Eureka flag. | |
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Republican Socialist League 1956 - the first proposal for a new flag - remove the Union Jack and replace with the Commonwealth Star | |
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Australasian Post 1968 - remove the Union Jack and rearrange the remaining elements. Used by Australian cricket team in Test Match tour of England in 1997. | |
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Richard Bates 1971 - winner of Australian National Flag Quest run by the Bulletin magazine. | |
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Athol Kelly 1979 - All Australian Flag | |
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A. Fraser Hobday 1980 - The Australian Pride | |
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Ralph Kelly 1982 - a weekly finalist in the Daily Telegraph flag design competition. | |
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John Williamson 1983 - Fair Dinkum Flag | |
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Alan Wright 1983 - Aussie Push for 88 | |
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Friedensreich Hundertwasser 1986 - Down Under flag - Uluru positioned to show "Australia holding the earth from down under". | |
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Geoff Coulin 1989 - Wattle Flag | |
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John Bartholomew 1992 - winning design in Adelaide Advertiser flag competition. | |
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Aboriginal Australian flag - from 1990s - Various people have advocated that the Aboroginal flag replace the Union Jack in the canton of a new Australian national flag. The sentiment is well meaning, but it replaces the dominant position of the colonial British flag with another dominant flag. Harold Thomas, who designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971, is opposed to the expropriation of his flag in this manner by Australians generally, as he would prefer for the Aboriginal flag to exclusively represent indigenous people. | |
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Marianne Evers 1993 - Finalist in second Ausflag national flag competition | |
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Stephen Harrington 1993 - Finalist in second Ausflag national flag competition | |
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David Couzens 1993 - equal first winning design in Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. | |
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Tony Burton 1993 - equal first winning design in Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition and also third place in Ausflag 1993 flag design competition. The design was first published in 1991 | |
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Geoff Cross and Christine Lowe 1993 - equal first winning design in Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. | |
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Tony Burton 1993 - entry into Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. | |
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Jacob Chahrozian 1993 - entry into Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. | |
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Joseph Ting 1993 - entry into Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. | |
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Joe Bollen 1993 - entry into Channel 9 A Current Affair flag competition. The "risen sun" replaces the Union Jack and Commonwealth Star. The sun design derived from his 1992 design of a flag for Greater Sydney. . | |
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Brendan Jones 1995 - Reconciliation Flag | |
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John Williamson 1995 - True Blue flag | |
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James Parberry 1996 - The All Australian Flag.The flag has continued to be promoted and flown since 1996, particularly on Sydney Harbour. The design represents a nation surrounded by oceans, clear blue skies, warmth of our people and climate and the Southern Cross rising overhead. |
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Yahoo Serious 1997 - All Australian Flag A "Serious Australian Project". The flag design is intended to expresses the sspirit of all Australians. The kangaroo is uniquely Australian that is a non-divisive symbol internationally recognised. A different shape for the kangaroo was created by Andrew Bell. |
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Russell Kennedy 1997 - Reconciliation Flag. A version with blue kangaroo over a yellow field was designed in 1999 and promoted as the Advance Australia National Flag |
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Stephen Berry 1998 - The Sunburnt Flag | |
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Marko de Haeck 1998 - The historical Australian "People's" flag of 1903 - 1954 is the basis for the design. This strongly anchors the design in Australian history. Two vertical panels in black and yellow, together with the red field, refer to the colours of the Aboriginal flag. Marko describes the flag as The Australian Tricolour. | |
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Fred Rieben 2004 - FlagOz actively promotes its Southern Cross and Boomerang flag. | |
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Robert Vose 2004 - The Seven Golden Stars flag rearranges the elements of the current flag, changes the colours to green and gold and adds the yellow sun from the Aboriginal flag. A variant adds the full Australian Coat of Arms to the lower fly and another replaces the Commonwealth Star with the arms. A 2012 variant uses a blue field and yellow stars and other design variations exist. |
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John Joseph 2006 - The flag changes the blue field of the current flag with black and replaces the Union Jack and Commonwealth Star with a large ochre circle with concentric dots in the style of Aboriginal dot painting. The design was first published by the Sydney Morning Herald and Joseph stated to "reflect the past, present and future of our nation". The flag was revived on social media during 2015. | |
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Tone Moore 2010 - The design was developed after numerous concepts were conceived and tested on social media during 2010. The design was promoted online on Australia Day 2011 and copies of the flag were also made available to supporters. | |
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John Blaxland 2013 - The design was proposed on Australia Day 2013 and its layout was changed in January 2014. The design was developed with help from Sancho Murphy. The 7-pointed star is filled with dots to represent 150 indigenous and 100 migrant languages. The boomerang is styled as a fragment of the Union Jack and the colours derive from the Aboriginal and British flags. Originally the stars of the Southern Cross were shown in green and gold but the design was further modified in December 2015. The concept is intended to be symbol of reconciliation. www.facebook.com/ReconciliationFlagForAustralia | |
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John Bond 2013 - The Golden Southern Cross flag is a derivative of flags with similar patterns and colours. The flag was adopted by the Facebook group, Republic of Australia in October 2013 to represent the republican concept, rather than to advocate the design as a new national flag per se. The hoist chevron is an interesting modifcation of the Australian pale, giving an allusion to the boomerang and progress, whilst creating more space for the Commonwealth Star than if there was a straight vertical panel. | |
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Brett Moxey 2014 - The Southern Horizon flag has been widely promoted on social media as a new national flag. The Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross are maintained with addition of a uniquely shaped green and gold wave at the base. The curve represents Australia's deserts, beaches and grasslands. The design represents both continuity and change showing no preference for any cultural, social or ethnic group - a flag to unite a multicultural society. A 2016 online survey by Dr Benjamin Jones of Western Sydney University voted this as the best of six designs and it has received numerous other awards. http://southernhorizonflag.weebly.com | |
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Russell Kennedy 2015 - Southern Cross Flag. The blue and white version of Ausflag's 1991 flag has been revisited. The stars have been made more angular and changed to yellow. Blue and yellow are the Australian heraldic colours and the design represents a continuity from the current flag. Versions in a variety of colours could be used for the states and to replace the traditional ensigns. |
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Golden Commonwealth 2015 - The Australian flag changed to a green field with yellow stars and the Commonwealth Star moved to replace the Union Jack. This design appears on a website and a Facebook page, but the designer's name is not apparent. The concept is likely not to be original, but this version is currently being promoted on social media. |
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Jeremy Matthews 2015 - The Golden Wattle flag was proposed as a national flag by the Wattle Day Association as the wattle is regarded as Australia's "only authentic national symbol", with no conflicts and able to be an inclusive symbol for all Australians. The Golden Wattle became the official floral emblem on 1 September 1988 ("Wattle Day"). The emblem is a clever stylisation of wattle flowers arranged around the Commonwealth Star, with both elements representing unity and diversity. The design also is shown with a blue field. |
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Murray Bunton 2016 - The Unity Flag is intended as a symbol of an inclusive and diverse Australia, united by a common effort to build a better nation together. The 8th point on the Commonwealth Star represents Indigenous Australians. The white triangles represent daybreak - our bright future. |
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Gary Graf 2017 - The Outback flag - sky blue and red with a thin gold stripe. The colours and simple design evoke Australia's outback landscape. The heights of the main stripes are based on the Golden Mean proportion. Different in style to other proposals, the design is innovative with an elegant simplicity that is readily distinguishable and it can become identifiably Australian. |
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David Dixon 2022 - The Southern Cross flag - five white stars on a green and gold cross, on a blue field. The design has been influenced by the Eureka Flag and the 1832 Australian Ensign with their large central crosses bearing 8-pointed stars, representing the Southern Cross. The cross in green and gold adds the national and sporting colours of Australia. The design is fully symmetrical which would add to its adaptability in all sizes, uses and contexts. The 8-pointed stars represent Indigenous Australians by adding an extra point to the current 7-pointed stars. |
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Simon Labriola 2023 - The Flag of Freedom Down Under - a map of Australia on a field divided vertically, black and white, with the map counterchanged white and black. The design is intended to be a reconciliation flag for harmony and peace between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The design was conceived in 2000 and actively promoted in 2002 to 2007, travelling in his Freedom Bus to numerous cities and towns seeking to promote reconciliation with his freedom flag. Labriola hopes people will see the colours combined as a "grey space" that Australians will occupy as a unified nation. |
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Anne Onimous 2024 - The Rising One (variant 16) flag - a design inspired by Tracey Mee's 2018 doctoral thesis. It incorporates the Commonwealth Star, the kangaroo, and the Southern Cross, three of the major symbols of Australia. The colours in the design are red and gold of the Australian Aboriginal flag, the green of the Torres Strait Islander flag, ochre from the Northern Territory flag, and blue from the Australian National Flag. The sunburst is a unique design element, based on the Australian Army's Rising Sun badge with 16 major rays symbolising all the states and territories of the Commonwealth. |
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DESIGNS BY FLAGS AUSTRALIA MEMBERS:
Some individual members of Flags Australia have proposed new designs for an Australian national flag. These designs include:
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Tony Burton 1984 - Southern Cross Flag | |
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Charles and Ralph Bartlett 1992 - Southern Cross with national colours. | |
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George Poulos 1993 - the rising sun of the ANZACs is the primary icon of Australia | |
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Peter Markwick 1999 - combining the Southern Cross and kangaroo in green and gold. | |
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Ralph Kelly 2012 - An update of a 1982 design - removing Commonwealth Star as irrelevant and creating a "green and gold" element. | |
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Dr Bob Bradley 2013 - Sun Arising flag - green with gold stripes and the classic kangaroo and a Commonwealth Star on a disc evocative of the rising sun. | |
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Michael Iacuone 2019 - Southern Starsflag - the Southern Cross is placed on a dark blue field at an angle that more closely resembles its appearance in the night sky. The points on the stars vary to represent their relative brightness and they are sharper, giving the impression of them sparkling. The simplicity of design would visually complement the flying of the Aboriginal flag. |
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Material Copyright to the Flag Society of Australia Inc and Pennant Advisory Services Pty Limited. Text and illustrations by Ralph Kelly. Web Design by Elizabeth Kelly of ELK Prints.