Flag
Adopted:
Flag
Proportion: 2:3
The
Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, an artist and an Aboriginal, in
1971.
The flag
was designed to be an eye-catching rallying symbol for the Aboriginal people and
a symbol
of their race and identity.The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red
the earth
and their spiritual relationship to the land, and the yellow the sun, the giver
of life.
In the
late 1960s, Aborigines stepped up their campaign for indigenous land rights
through
protest
marches, demonstrations, banners and posters. The protests increased in the
early
1970s and
Harold Thomas noticed they were often
outnumbered by non-Aborigines with
their own
banners and placards. He decided they needed to be more visible and
the idea
of the flag was born.
The
Aboriginal flag was first raised in
on
National Aboriginal Day in 1971, but was adopted nationally by Aborigines
and
Torres Strait Islanders in 1972 after it was flown above the Aboriginal
"Tent Embassy"
outside
of the old Parliament House in
Mr Thomas
has often been asked to design a new Australian flag, but he says the design
of the
Aboriginal flag "sprung from passionate times" and that his
inspiration could not
necessarily
"be repeated" for a new Australian flag. Mr Thomas says he would
prefer to see
something
different for a new Australian flag.
Mr Thomas
is also uneasy about suggestions that the Aboriginal Flag could replace the
Union
Jack in the current Australian flag to create a new national flag. Mr Thomas
says
"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."
The Aboriginal
flag is increasingly being flown by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
In view
of its increasing importance in Australian society, the Government initiated
steps in
1994 to
give the flag legal recognition. After a period of public consultation, the
Government
made its
own decision in July 1995 that the flag should be proclaimed a "Flag of
Australia"
under
section 5 of the Flags Act 1953. The flag was so proclaimed by the Governor
General
of
