The Great Australian Flag Debate

In some countries, the national flag is looked at as almost sacrosanct. In Australia, though, the flag seems to be the subject of considerable debate.


Some Australians -- perhaps many Australians -- find the Union Jack in the upper left not only an uncomfortable reminder of the colonial era, but unrepresentative of the increasingly multicultural Australia of today.

Ausflag is the first group I've ever heard of whose mission is to question the flag of its country. It is, according to its website, an apolitical, non-profit organisation seeking to secure the popular support of the Australian people for the adoption of a truly Australian flag. This may stretch the definition of "apolitical" somewhat, but Ausflag does offer a remarkable amount of material on Australian flag history and about the ongoing debate over the Australian flag. There are also more than one hundred possible alternative Australian flags on offer on their site, some of which strike me as quite nice...





And some as less so.





This design is described as "revolutionary, not evolutionary." True! I think I might like it, despite its figurative nature:



Apparently, the flag issue is a bit of a passion for many individuals as well; I became aware of Ausflag through the website of Brendan Jones, a guy with his own set of national and state flag designs that he would like to see replace the current set.