"Fear God, Honour the Queen, Remember 1915!" "Re-Christianise, Re-Monarchise, Re-Militarise!"[3]
The Australian Flag Society (AFS) was founded as an advocacy group to argue the case for a referendum and constitutional elevation for the existing flag of Australia.[4][5][6]
The website of the AFS states the following aims and objectives:
Making civics education, vexillogical and other resources available to organisations and the general public and considering all requests for grants of aid and materiel.
Due recognition of the Australian National Flag and observance of Australian National Flag Day, 3 September.
Facilitating contact between supporters of the Society to discuss ways to promote the Australian National Flag and Australian patriotism in general.
Maintaining a general headquarters and preservation of the Society's collection.
Continuing to add to the body of knowledge through primary research.
Under the AFS constitution (adopted 25 October 2008),[12] the National Convenor may admit voting rights members and appoint from among their number officers of the Executive Council. In addition, members of the general public became able to subscribe to the AFS as supporters free of charge.[5]
On the 18 September 2001 during the centenary of federation the federal member for Hinkler, Paul Neville, would request of the speaker that:
"before it [the flag] becomes too faded or too tattered, [it] be taken down and perhaps offered to a museum or an art gallery as the seminal flag that flew over this building 100 years from the time the first flag was flown?" [13]
The parliament house centenary flag was subsequently entrusted to the AFS and has been paraded at schools to mark Australian National Flag Day on a tour of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
National defence
The AFS favours a nuclear hedging strategy and acquiring "the ability to make nuclear weapons at short notice and the systems to deliver them in defence of the homeland." They have also proposed appointing "three war time deputy governor generals to inspect the men and women in uniform and develop comprehensive national service, civil defence, internment and continuity of government policies for Australia."[21]
In conjunction with Flag Day 2012, the AFS began an annual flag day charity appeal, making sales of postcards, flag related merchandise and receiving donations towards a gift and bereavement fund for wounded members of the Australian Defence Force.[22]
Civics education
The AFS has proposed 22 August be proclaimed as "Captain Cook Day" to commemorate the date explorer James Cook declared the British claim to Australia.[23]
Under the proposed legislative and constitutional refinements, it is envisaged that the Flags Act would remain on the statute books, to provide the construction sheet for the Australian National Flag which would be described in terms of its essential elements in the constitution, thereby settling the question of popular sovereignty in relation to the process for reviewing the design - in whole or in part - with a weighty body of legal opinion against the constitutionality of the current statutory rules in subsections 3(2) & (3),[27][28] which provide for an instant-runoff for choosing between the existing flag and one or more alternatives, on the basis of universal suffrage. As the device occupying the lower hoist is simply referred to as a "large white Commonwealth Star", the number of points on what is a well recognised heraldic symbol in its own right[29] could be varied by ordinary legislation, according to changes in membership of the Australian Federation, and not by a plebiscite as currently required, which would remove what has been criticised as an "anomalous and costly" impediment.[30]
The Australian flag as raised at Lingkas beach, Tarakan on 1 May 1945, was subsequently discovered in 2018 by the AFS in Ipswich, Queensland.
In 2013 the AFS announced a worldwide quest and $10,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the Union Jack which was reportedly hoisted as a second flag at the battle of the Eureka Stockade.[37]
An Australian flag belonging to the 2nd/23rd battalion and flown at Lingkas beach during the battle of Tarakan was discovered after being featured on the promotional logo for the society's proposed Annual Pause for the National Salute. The frayed specimen contains the inscriptions "2nd/23rd"; "26th Brig"; "Tarakan"; "Oboe" and "May 1945" made using a substance "believed to be human blood."[38][39][40][41]
National salute
The AFS has proposed that all schools in Australia pause to recite the words of the national salute as part of the annual Australian National Flag Day commemorations. The national salute was part of Australian school tradition until falling into disuse from the late 1950s.[42] The version used by the AFS reads as follows:
"I fear God, I love my country, I honour her Queen, I salute her flag, I promise to always obey her laws."[43]
Religion
It is the position of the AFS that the Australian constitution and national flag are both of divine inspiration. They have also proposed proclaiming the Holy Bible as Australia's official national book.[44][45]
In December 2016 the AFS launched Australian Christian Broadcasting as a news wire service focusing on biblical eschatology and current world events. The Australian Flag Society's Facebook fanpage also features a regular "World War 3 Watch" series and commentary based around the premise that the Biblical end time has arrived.[46]
Publications
Flag Breaking News is an occasional news bulletin published by the Australian Flag Society.[47][48]
↑ ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety, Office of Regulatory Services
↑ According to the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety, Office of Regulatory Services, the Australian Flag Society's incorporation ceased on 15 April 2005
↑ "History of Aussie flag to be given to schools", Canberra Sunday Times, 11 August 2002
The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat between the rebels and the colonial forces of Australia. The fighting left at least 27 dead and many injured, most of the casualties being rebels. There was a preceding period beginning in 1851 of peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience on the Victorian goldfields. The miners had various grievances, chiefly the cost of mining permits and the officious way the system was enforced.
Paul Christopher Neville was an Australian politician who was a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1993 to August 2013, representing the Division of Hinkler, Queensland. After the Queensland chapters of the Nationals and Liberals merged in 2008 as the Liberal National Party of Queensland, Neville continued to sit with the Nationals in Parliament.
The Eureka Flag was flown at the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which took place on 3 December 1854 at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. It was the culmination of the 1851–1854 Eureka Rebellion on the Victorian goldfields. Gold miners protested the cost of mining permits, the officious way the colonial authorities enforced the system, and other grievances. An estimated crowd of over 10,000 demonstrators swore allegiance to the flag as a symbol of defiance at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854. It was then flown over the Eureka Stockade during the battle that resulted in at least 27 deaths. Around 120 miners were arrested, and many others were badly wounded.
The Australian Aboriginal flag is the official flag of Aboriginal Australians. It was granted official status in 1995 under the Flags Act 1953, together with the Torres Strait Islander flag, in recognition of their status as Indigenous peoples of Australia. The two flags are often flown together with the Australian national flag.
The Australia First Party (AFP), officially known as the Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, is an Australian nationalist political party founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell, a former member of the Australian Labor Party. The policies of the party have been described as nationalist, anti-multicultural and economically protectionist, advocating for strict immigration controls, the prioritization of Australian citizens in employment, and the promotion of Australian culture and values. The party's logo includes the Southern Cross of the Eureka Flag.
This is a timeline of Australian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Australia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see history of Australia. See also the list of prime ministers of Australia.
The state flag of Queensland is a British Blue Ensign with the state badge on a white disc added in the fly. The badge is a light blue Maltese Cross with a Saint Edward's Crown in the centre of the cross. The flag dates from 1876, with minor variations, and the badge was designed by William Hemmant, the Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of Queensland in 1876.
The second question of the 1967 Australian referendum of 27 May 1967, called by the Holt government, related to Indigenous Australians. Voters were asked whether to give the Commonwealth Parliament the power to make special laws for Indigenous Australians in states, and whether Indigenous Australians should be included in official population counts for constitutional purposes. The term "the Aboriginal Race" was used in the question.
The Australian National Flag Association (ANFA) was inaugurated at a public meeting held in Sydney on 5 October 1983 to oppose suggestions that the existing Australian National Flag is not appropriately representative of the nation, and should be changed, with Sir Colin Hines elected as founding president of the New South Wales branch.
The Flags Act 1953 is an act of the Parliament of Australia which defines the official Australian National Flag and the Australian Red Ensign.
The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
The flag of Australia, also known as the Australian Blue Ensign, is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star and a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars. Australia also has a number of other official flags representing its people and core functions of government.
Royal tours of Australia by the British royal family have been taking place since 1867. Since then, there have been over fifty visits by a member of the Royal Family, though only six of those came before 1954. Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch of Australia to have set foot on Australian soil; she first did so on 3 February 1954, when she was 27 years old. During her sixteen journeys, the Queen visited every Australian state and the two major territories.
The Australian flag debate is a question over whether the Australian flag should be changed, particularly to remove the Union Jack from the canton, but also to possibly introduce a completely new design without the Southern Cross. Acknowledgement of the significance of the issues, and corresponding changes are required to reflect Australia's multicultural society, as well as to reflect Australia's immensely rich, and intricate and complex shared history.
The proposed relocation of the North Melbourne Football Club has been an ongoing issue for both the club and the Australian Football League (AFL) since the 1980s. The North Melbourne Football Club has been involved in several proposals, especially during times of financial and on-field difficulty, to relocate and secure its future.
The historical flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories refers to the various flags that were used across the various Dominions, Crown colonies, protectorates, and territories which made up the British Empire and overseas territories. Early flags that were used across the Empire tended to be variations of the Red and Blue Ensigns of Great Britain with no colonial badges or coat of arms attached to them. In the first half of the 19th century, the first colonies started to acquire their own colony badges, but it was not until the UK Parliament passed the Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 that the colonies were required to apply their own emblems.
This article is a gallery of the flags of the principal subdivisions of the countries and territories of Oceania. For purposes of this article, Oceania is taken to comprise Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
The three branches of the Australian Defence Force are each represented by flags, among other emblems and insignia. Within each service, various symbols fly on individual ships, at bases, camps, the Australian Defence Force Academy and colleges. These include flags, standards, guidons and banners and that denote rank, appointment, corps, formations, regiments, training units and sub-units.
The following bibliography includes notable sources concerning the Eureka Rebellion. This article is currently being expanded and revised.
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