deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

The national flag of Australia, flying on Flag day in Australia. It consists of a blue field with what we call the Union Jack in the canton (the upper left, hoist side) this is similar to the British Maritime Ensign. The field is, the proper term is ‘defaced’, with the commonwealth star.

The Commonwealth Star is a 7 pointed star denoting the fact that Australia is a part of the British empire.

On the other side of the field are the five stars of the southern cross. There is one small star that has five points and four stars that have seven points

The design was adopted in 1901 after a competition and then was approved by the King of England in 1908. In 1953, Australia passed the Flag Act (the US also has what we call the US Flag Code) with strict guidelines for how the flag may be used. Unlike the US Flag Code the Australian Flag Act has ‘teeth’ with penalties for misuse of the flag.

A famous example of the power of the Flag Act would be when the Federal Government forced a wildly popular Australian Rules Football club, The Collingwood Magpies, to completely redesign their logo, stating the flag was not correctly displaying the flag. (Imagine how that would play in the US.)

Overall the National Flag is a pleasing design, albeit a little busy. But you know with a quick glance who this flag belongs to. This flag is one of the first ones I purchased. I have been flying it for 20 years. As with all things Australian…’And Bob’s your uncle’.