Australian Aboriginal Flag
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The Australian Aboriginal flag is a flag that was initially used by Indigenous Australians in their struggle for land rights in Australia, but whose use has now expanded as a symbol of the Aboriginal people. The top half of the flag is black and the bottom half is red, with a yellow circle joining the two in the centre. It was designed in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist descended from the Luritja of Central Australia, as a symbol of the Indigenous land rights movement. On 14 July 1995 it was officially proclaimed by the Australian government to be legally "a Flag of Australia", along with the Torres Strait Islander flag under Section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] History
It 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 in 1972. Before the current Aboriginal flag was used at the tent embassy, other designs were used earlier in the year, including a black, green and red flag made by Sydney supporters, and also a flag with a spear and four crescents in yellow in front of a red and black background.
Cathy Freeman created a great deal of controversy at the 1994 Commonwealth Games by waving the Aboriginal flag as well as the Australian flag during her victory lap of the arena, after winning the 200 metres sprint. Normally, only the national flag is so waved. She was strongly criticised by Games officials including Arthur Tunstall, however she took both flags after later winning the 400 metres as well.
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. [1]
The National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at Homebush stadium during the 2000 Olympics. [2] SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at Olympic venues. [3] 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. [4]
[edit] Use
Many buildings in Australia fly the Aboriginal flag as well as the Australian one, such as the Melbourne Trades Hall. Various councils in Australian towns fly the Aboriginal flag from the town halls, such as Bendigo (adopted in 2005). [5]
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 [6]. 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.” [6]
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. [7]
[edit] References
- ^ From the Federal Court case that established Thomas' copyright over the image. Harold Joseph Thomas v David George Brown & James Morrison Vallely Tennant (1997) 215 FCA (9 April 1997)
- ^ From the It's An Honour website.
- ^ From a statement made on 4 July 1995 by then Opposition Leader John Howard, cited on Flags of the World website.
- ^ Harold Thomas in Land Rights News, July 1995, p. 3, cited in Aboriginal Tent Embassy: Icon or Eyesore?
- ^ Federal Court declares Aboriginal artist owner of copyright in Aboriginal flag (PDF file), a summary of Thomas v Brown & Tennant [1997] 215 FCA (9 April 1997)
- ^ Quoted at this Ausflag page
- 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 - Awards and National symbols] 2005. Brief flag description.
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| National | National flag · Red Ensign · White Ensign · Air Force Ensign · Defence Force Ensign · Queen's Personal Australian Flag · Governor-General · Aboriginal · Torres Strait Islander · Civil Aviation Ensign · Customs Flag |
| Subnational | Australian Capital Territory · Christmas Island · New South Wales · Norfolk Island · Northern Territory · Queensland · South Australia · Tasmania · Victoria · Western Australia · Governors of the States |
| Historical | Anti-Transportation League Flag · Australian Federation Flag · Bowman Flag · Eureka Flag · National Colonial Flag |
