"Flag of Australia The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. There are other official flags representing Australia, its people and core functions of government. The flag's original design (with a six-pointed Commonwealth Star) was chosen in 1901 from entries in a competition held"
"of the points on the star represent the original six states, while the seventh point represents the combined territories and any future states of Australia. In its entirety the shield represents the federation of Australia. The Red Kangaroo and Emu that support the shield have never been designated as official animal emblems of the nation. They owe their unofficial recognition to the fact that they are endemic Australian fauna (found only on that continent), and likely chosen because they are the most well-known native Australian animals large enough to be positioned together in scale holding up the shield. They were"
"the flag and heraldic symbolism of Australia. In the Australian context, the seven points (also known as the Commonwealth Star, the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901. Six points of the Star represent the six original states of the Commonwealth of Australia, while the seventh point represents the territories. The seven-pointed stars stand in contrast to the vexillologically more conventional five-pointed stars. The Seal of the Cherokee Nation has an acute gold seven-pointed star in its seal. The"
"seven-pointed Federation Star in the bottom left representing the six states and the territories of Australia. Other official flags include the Australian Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag and the flags of the individual states and territories. The Australian Coat of Arms was granted by King George V in 1912 and consists of a shield containing the badges of the six states, within an ermine border. The crest above the shield and helmet is a seven-pointed gold star on a blue and gold wreath, representing the 6 states and the territories. The shield is supported by a red kangaroo"
"Commonwealth Star The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901. Six points of the Star represent the six original states of the Commonwealth of Australia, while the seventh point represents the territories and any other future states of Australia. The original star had only six points; however, the proclamation in 1905 of the Territory of Papua led to the addition of the seventh point in 1909 to represent it and future territories. The"
"National Colonial Flag for Australia The National Colonial Flag for Australia (1823/24) was the forerunner of the many Australian flag designs which featured the Southern Cross and Union Flag in combination. It is the first recorded attempt to design a distinctive national flag for Australia. Designed by Captain John Bingle and Captain John Nicholson, both New South Wales residents, it is inspired by the White Ensign of the Royal Navy, the protector and defender of Australia from 1788 to 1913. The large red cross of St George features four white, eight pointed stars representing the Southern Cross. According to Captain"
"Commonwealth Star is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Australian flag, as opposed to the similar flag of New Zealand. Although the term ""Federation Star"" is frequently used, the term ""Commonwealth Star"" is the official name. This is because that was the name ascribed to the star by the Australian Government when the Australian flag was adopted and such adoption gazetted in the official Government gazette. The Commonwealth Star is found on both the flag of Australia and the Coat of Arms of Australia. On the Australian flag the Star appears in the lower hoist quarter, beneath the representation"
"surrounded by a garland of golden roses. Each of the six sections of the flag represents the heraldic badge of the Australian states, and the whole is surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states: The gold seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star), represents the states and the territories. The blue disc is taken from the Queen's Personal Flag as used for duties within the Commonwealth of Nations. The flag is used in two ratios, 1:2 and 22:31. The 1:2 ratio ensures the flag maintains visual integrity with other naval flags, which are 1:2. A 22:31 ratio gives"
"four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller, more central star with five points. This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903. A complete specification for the official design was published in the ""Commonwealth Gazette"" in 1934. Under the Flags Act, the Australian National Flag must meet the following specifications: The location of the stars is as follows: The outer diameter of the Commonwealth Star is of the flag's width, while that of the stars in the Southern Cross is of the flag's width, except for Epsilon, for which the fraction is . Each star's inner"
"of the Union flag, and as four of the five stars making up the Southern Cross on the fly. In the Coat of Arms, the Star forms the crest, atop a blue and gold wreath. The Star also appears on the badges of the Australian Defence Force and Australian Federal Police, although the badges of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force feature the St Edward's Crown, as in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. In the event of the country becoming a republic, it has been suggested that the Commonwealth Star replace the Crown."
"Flag of Victoria The flag of Victoria, symbolising the state of Victoria in Australia, is a British Blue Ensign defaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly. The badge is the Southern Cross topped by an imperial crown, which is currently the St Edward's Crown. The stars of the Southern Cross are white and range from five to eight points with each star having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The flag dates from 1870, with minor variations, the last of which was in 1953. It is the only Australian state flag not to feature"
"Melbourne Star The Melbourne Star (previously Southern Star) is a giant Ferris wheel in the Waterfront City precinct in the Docklands area of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. Described by its operators as ""the Southern Hemisphere's only giant observation wheel"", it is tall and has seven spokes, reflecting the seven-pointed star of the Australian flag. It opened two years behind schedule in December 2008, but closed 40 days later due to structural defects, and was subsequently dismantled for major repairs. The wheel itself was scrapped and replaced, but the original support structure and passenger cabins were retained. It"
"without the bars and star. Australian Honour Flag The Australian Honour Flag is a special Australian flag that was created by the Commonwealth Government in 1918, as a result of World War I. It consists of a white flag, with the national flag in canton, a large 7-pointed star, and three blue vertical bars, with a red border overall. Towns and districts in Australia which subscribed twice their quota of funds to the Commonwealth Government's Seventh War Loan in 1918 were presented with the Honour Flag. Individual contributors were awarded a certificate known as a House Badge, which featured an"
"the number of points on the four biggest stars of the southern cross set to seven, ostensibly to improve ease of manufacture. The original variety of points was an indication of the relative brightness of each star as it appeared in the night sky. In 1908, the current Commonwealth star of seven points replaced the earlier six-pointed star. Despite executive branch proclamations as to the respective roles of the two red, white and blue ensigns there remained confusion until the Flags Act 1953 declared the blue ensign to be the ""Australia national flag"" and the ""Australian red ensign"" to be"
"Australian Civil Aviation Ensign The Australian Civil Aviation Ensign is an Australian flag that is used by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority. The design of the flag is based on the British Civil Air Ensign, which is divided into quarters by a dark blue cross with a white fimbriation. There is a Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter, and the other quarters light blue. When an Australian version was first adopted in 1935, it included the stars from the Australian National Flag in yellow, and with the Southern Cross rotated by roughly 45 degrees, meaning that the smallest star"
"people of Australia. The flag's width is 1.5 times its height. It is horizontally divided into a black region (above) and a red region (below). A yellow disc is superimposed over the centre of the flag. The Government of Australia granted it ""Flag of Australia"" status, under the Flags Act 1953, by proclamation on 14 July 1995. Due to an ""administrative oversight"", the 1995 proclamation was not lodged so that it would continue in force indefinitely; hence it automatically expired on 1 January 2008. It was therefore almost identically replaced, on 25 January 2008, with effect as from 1 January."
"Australian Honour Flag The Australian Honour Flag is a special Australian flag that was created by the Commonwealth Government in 1918, as a result of World War I. It consists of a white flag, with the national flag in canton, a large 7-pointed star, and three blue vertical bars, with a red border overall. Towns and districts in Australia which subscribed twice their quota of funds to the Commonwealth Government's Seventh War Loan in 1918 were presented with the Honour Flag. Individual contributors were awarded a certificate known as a House Badge, which featured an illustration of the Honour Flag"
"the Australian state of Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, as well as the flag of Magallanes Region of Chile, the flag of Londrina (Brazil) and several Argentine provincial flags and emblems (for example, ""Tierra del Fuego"" and ""Santa Cruz""). The flag of the Mercosur trading zone displays the four brightest stars. Crux also appears on the Brazilian coat of arms and, , on Brazilian passports. A Cross also gets a mention in the lyrics of the Brazilian National Anthem (1909): """"A imagem do Cruzeiro resplandece"""" (""the image of the Cross shines""). Five stars appear in the logo"
"separating the land and the ocean. The five stars are arranged in three offset rows at the canton, in the shape of the letter X. At first, these were meant to symbolize the provinces that the country was subdivided into at the time of independence. Even though new provinces have since been created, the number of stars has remained unchanged. One of the various proposed alternatives to the present flag of Australia is an emblem labelled the 'Southern Horizon'. Having been voted as the favourite in an unofficial poll of more than 8,000 people, its blue, gold, and green colour"
"flags of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as one of five stars which comprise the Southern Cross. It is also featured in the flag of Brazil, along with 26 other stars, each of which represents a state. Gamma Crucis represents the State of Bahia. Gamma Crucis Gamma Crucis (γ Crucis, abbreviated Gamma Cru, γ Cru), also named Gacrux, is the nearest class M giant star to the Sun. The distance to Gacrux has been determined using parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, which yielded a value of away from the Sun. With an apparent visual magnitude of"
"Queen's Personal Australian Flag The Queen's Personal Australian Flag is the personal flag of Queen Elizabeth II in her role as Queen of Australia. The flag was approved for use in 1962. It is only used by the Queen when she is in Australia, or attending an event abroad in her role as head of state of Australia. The Queen's representative, the Governor-General of Australia has a separate flag. The flag consists of a banner of the coat of arms of Australia, defaced with a gold seven-pointed federation star with a blue disc containing the letter E below a crown,"
"of the Council of Australian Governments unanimously agreed with former Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles that the territory should become its own state by 1 July 2018. Little progress had been made on that proposal by June 2018. It has been suggested that statehood for the Northern Territory may lead to a change in the Australian flag. The design elements of the Australian flag have been changed seven times since it was first flown on September 3, 1901. However, in 1908 a seventh point was added to the ""Commonwealth Star"" to represent the Australian territories—originally this star had six"
"The Star is also used on numerous Australian medals, including the National Police Service Medal, the Defence Force Service Medal, the civilian Star of Courage, the Public Service Medal, the Ambulance Service Medal and the Australian Police Medal. With the marriage of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark to Mary Donaldson (now the Crown Princess Mary) in 2004, Princess Mary was honoured with the Order of the Elephant. The chief field of the Crown Princess' coat of arms shows two gold Commonwealth Stars from the Coat of arms of Australia. Commonwealth Star The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star,"
"Flag of the Australian Capital Territory The current flag of the Australian Capital Territory was officially adopted by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in 1993. The flag differs from the Australian state flags as it is not a modified (technically defaced) British Blue Ensign. It is similar in design to the flag of the Northern Territory. The flag uses the Canberra city colours of blue and gold (which also happen to be the heraldic colours of Australia). The Southern Cross appears as five white stars on a blue panel at the hoist, whilst in the centre of the gold"
"Major of the Army and Warrant Officer of the Air Force. Coat of arms of Australia The coat of arms of Australia, officially called the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. A shield, depicting symbols of Australia's six states, is held up by the native Australian animals the kangaroo and the emu. The seven-pointed Commonwealth Star surmounting the crest also represents the states and territories, while floral emblems appear below the shield. The first arms were authorised by King Edward VII on 7 May 1908, and the current version by King George V"
"Coat of arms of Australia The coat of arms of Australia, officially called the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. A shield, depicting symbols of Australia's six states, is held up by the native Australian animals the kangaroo and the emu. The seven-pointed Commonwealth Star surmounting the crest also represents the states and territories, while floral emblems appear below the shield. The first arms were authorised by King Edward VII on 7 May 1908, and the current version by King George V on 19 September 1912, although the 1908 version continued to be"
"Flag of Alaska The flag of Alaska consists of eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and Polaris, on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major which symbolizes a bear, an animal indigenous to Alaska. As depicted on the flag, its stars can be used as a guide by the novice to locate Polaris and determine true north, which varies considerably from a magnetic north. The design was created by Benny Benson of Seward and selected from among roughly 700 entries in a 1927 contest. More than 30 years before Alaska was"
"in the 1870 are shown. The kangaroo paw (""Anigozanthos manglesii"") flower is the official floral emblem of Western Australia, adopted in 1960, and together with the black and gold torse framing the Crown indicates the honour bestowed upon the state by the grant of arms, and emphasises the sovereignty and independence of Western Australia. The red kangaroo (""Macropus rufus"") is the largest kangaroo species, living in the state's inland and arid regions. Its natural habitat, combined with that of the black swan, covers almost the whole state and symbolically reflect the jurisdiction of the coat of arms. The red kangaroo"
"and both have the Southern Cross as a prominent feature. The only differences between these flags is that the Australian flag has the Commonwealth Star below the canton, and that on the New Zealand flag, just four stars in the Southern Cross are presented, and they are five-pointed red stars with white borders. On the other hand, all five stars of the Southern Cross are presented on the Australian flag, and they are white with seven points, except for the additional smaller fifth star in the Southern Cross which has only five points on this flag. Some similarities to the"
"Eureka Flag The Eureka Flag is a flag design which features dark blue field (2:3.08 ratio); a horizontal stripe wide and a vertical line crossing it of wide; and 5 eight pointed stars, the central star being tall (point to point) and the other stars tall, representing the Crux Australis constellation. The design was first used as the war flag of the Eureka Rebellion (3 December 1854) at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. A number of people swore allegiance to the flag as a symbol of defiance at its first flying at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854. Over 30 miners"
"contribution to aviation in Australia Australian Civil Aviation Ensign The Australian Civil Aviation Ensign is an Australian flag that is used by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority. The design of the flag is based on the British Civil Air Ensign, which is divided into quarters by a dark blue cross with a white fimbriation. There is a Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter, and the other quarters light blue. When an Australian version was first adopted in 1935, it included the stars from the Australian National Flag in yellow, and with the Southern Cross rotated by roughly 45 degrees,"
"suspended due to a software problem. Our technical services team are undertaking a comprehensive investigation to identify and correct the issue and we are expecting to resume operations later today."" The wheel was closed from 11:00 until the following morning. Melbourne Star The Melbourne Star (previously Southern Star) is a giant Ferris wheel in the Waterfront City precinct in the Docklands area of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. Described by its operators as ""the Southern Hemisphere's only giant observation wheel"", it is tall and has seven spokes, reflecting the seven-pointed star of the Australian flag. It opened two"
"used in some contexts, notably appearing on the reverse of the sixpenny coin. The escutcheon is the focal point of the coat of arms, contained within is the badge of each Australian state, the whole surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states:. In the top half, from left to right, the states represented are: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. In the bottom half, from left to right: South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. Above the shield is the seven-pointed Commonwealth Star or ""Star of Federation"" above a blue and gold wreath, forming the crest. Six"