Flags Act 1953

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Flags Act 1953
Parliament of Australia
Long title: An Act to declare a certain Flag to be the Australian National Flag and to make other provision with respect to Flags
Introduced by: Robert Menzies
Dates
Date passed: December 1953
Date of Royal Assent: February 14, 1954
Commencement: April 14, 1954
Other legislation
Amendments: Flags Amendment Act 1998
Related legislation:
Status: Substantially amended

The Flags Act 1953 was as act of the Parliament of Australia which was notable as it established the official Flag of Australia. The Act was amended by the Flags Amendment Act 1998 which added a mechanism for public participation in any future change to the Australian Flag.

[edit] Flags Act 1953

The Flags Act was passed by Parliament in December 1953, and was the first of the few pieces of Commonwealth legislation to which Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Assent personally. She signed the Act during her visit to Australia in 1954. It passed into law on February 14, 1954 and was the first legislation to pass into law in 1954.

Under Section 5 of the Flags Act, the Governor-General can approve official flags of Australia.

The Act originally contained a serious drafting error in Table A. The outer diameter of the Commonwealth Star was recorded as being three-eighths of the width of the flag, instead of the true value of three-tenths of the width of the flag. The act was amended to correct the error in 1954.

[edit] Flags Amendment Act 1998

The Flags Amendent Act was passed during a period of active debate on changing the Australian Flag and the Australian republic. The Act adds to Section 3 of the Flags Act and provides that the present Australian National Flag can only be replaced if a majority of State and Territory electors qualified to vote for the House of Representatives agree. Previously the Act provided no mechanism for changing the flag.

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