Why should we not change the Australian flag?

Answer 1

The Australian National Flag was chosen at a design competition after the Federation of Australia in 1901. The current design with the seven-pointed Commonwealth Star on the Blue Ensign and the Union Jack in the corner was chosen in 1908.

Answer 2

Yes, the current Australian flag is a colonial flag.

It is technically a British Blue Ensign defaced by the stars of the southern cross and the Federal star.

This is more a matter for discussion than a categorical yes/no question. Some would argue that, as long as Australia is a constitutional monarchy, it is quite appropriate to maintain the flag as it is.

Many would rather the flag stay as it is. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, fighting in wars, under the current flag.

Australian being a Constitutional monarchy is of course irrelevant as we owe no allegiance to the British Monarch - Elizabeth acts as the Queen of Australia a completely separate legal position .

That people died under the flag is immaterial as they were fighting as British subjects until recently ie as loyal subjects of the then British Crown . In WW1 and WW2 all troops from this country fought as the Australian IMPERIAL Forces or ' AIF ' . Australians are no longer British subjects so the current flag now implies a false allegiance .

Answer 3

Paul Keating, who was one of Australia's former prime ministers, wanted to change the look of the Australian flag because he believed that Australia should leave the Commonwealth and become a republic. The law never passed the Senate and it was never fulfilled but the question still is asked today.

Answer 4

Answer 1:

The main reason for Australians wanting to change their national flag is that it has the Union Jack on it. The Union Jack was on the flag's original design because it represented Britain, and Australia was very loyal to Britain. However, in more recent times this loyalty has faded and most Australians no longer feel a strong connection to Britain, hence the unwillingness to have the Union Jack on the Australian flag.

Answer 2:

They don't.

It is perhaps too much of a generalisation to ask why Australians want to change their national flag. One of Australia's newspapers, the Herald Sun, conducted an online poll in 2010 in which over 5600 people (more than 60%) said there was no need to change the current flag, as opposed to 39% having the opinion that the flag should be replaced.

Another Australian online survey site, OpinionsPaid, conducted a similar poll in June 2010, asking how Australians felt about the flag being changed. Results were clearly in favour of retaining the current flag: 62% said "yes", 19% said "no" and another 19% said "maybe". Results of the poll, including arguments for and against keeping the flag, can be seen at the related link below.

However, in support of the first answer: another poll was conducted by the AGB Nielsen Media Research of people who were in favour of changing the flag. Of those surveyed, 66% felt that the Australian flag should incorporate more elements of Australia's indigenous (Aboriginal) flag within its design.

It should also be considered that an increasing percentage of Australians are migrants. These people believe a flag is needed that is more unique and distinct, and unable to be easily confused with the New Zealand flag.

Answer 5

In a nutshell: After the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901, the Commonwealth government held a design competition for a new national flag. There were 32,000 entries in the competition, and most featured the Union Jack, the Southern Cross, or native animals.

Five almost identical entries were selected to share the 200 pound prize. The entries belonged to Ivor Evans, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne; Leslie John Hawkins, a teenager apprenticed to an optician from Sydney; Egbert John Nuttall, an architect from Melbourne; Annie Dorrington, an artist from Perth; and William Stevens, a ship's officer from Auckland, New Zealand.

On 3 September 1901, the new Australian flag flew for the first time from the top of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne. The flag was simplified, and approved by King Edward VII in 1902.

Answer 6

Some people want to change the flag because we are not part of Brittan anymore.

Answer 7

So that the Aborigines (the natives of this land) may be represented in our flag.

Answer 8

We should not change the Australian flag because it has a meaning and is part of Australia. If it is changed then you are changing history because that's how it became.