List of Australian flags

This is a list of flags used in Australia:

National

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1901-1903	Flag of Australia	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1903-1908	Flag of Australia	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1908–present	Flag of Australia	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1971	Aboriginal Flag	A black and red flag with a yellow circle in the middle.
?	1992	Torres Strait Islander Flag	A five-pointed star and traditional headdress in white, on a blue, green and black background

Personal Flags

Queen

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1962	The Australian Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II

Governor-General

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1936	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A crowned lion standing on a crown on a blue field

Governors

See also: Flags of the Governors of the Australian states

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1876	Flag of the Governor of Queensland	The Union Flag defaced with the state badge
	1975	Flag of the Governor of South Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge
	1977	Flag of the Governor of Tasmania	The State Flag with a crowned badge
	1981	Flag of the Governor of New South Wales	The State Flag with a crowned badge
	1984	Flag of the Governor of Victoria	The State Flag with a yellow field and crowned southern cross
	1988	Flag of the Governor of Western Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge

Prime Minister

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1949 - 1966	Car Flag of the Prime Minister	This (unofficial, though used) variation includes the State Arms on the national flag.

States and mainland territories

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1875	Flag of Tasmania	A red lion on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1876	Flag of New South Wales	A St George's Cross with four gold stars and a lion in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1876	Flag of Queensland	A light blue Maltese cross with a crown on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1877	Flag of Victoria	The Southern Cross surmounted by a crown in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1904	Flag of South Australia	A piping shrike on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1953	Flag of Western Australia	A black swan on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign
	1978	Flag of the Northern Territory	One third black with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are brown with Sturt's Desert Rose, the floral emblem of the Territory
	1993	Flag of Australian Capital Territory	One third blue with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are yellow with the Coat of Arms of Canberra

Civil ensigns

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1909–present	Australian Red Ensign	A British Red Ensign with the Commonwealth Star at the hoist, and the Southern Cross in the other half
	1903-1909	Australian Red Ensign	A Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half
	1901-1903	Australian Red Ensign	A Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half
	1948–present	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star
	1935-1948	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in yellow

Australian Defence Force

Flag	Date	Use	Description
?	2000	Australian Defence Force Ensign	A tricolour of dark blue (navy); red (army) and light blue (airforce) with the Triservice badge

Royal Australian Navy

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1967–present	Australian White Ensign	Based on the British White Ensign, a version of the national flag with a white field and the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross in blue
	1911-1967	Royal Australian Navy Ensign	St George's Ensign or White Ensign: white field defaced with a thin Cross of Saint George, Union Flag in the first quarter. It was replaced by the Australian White Ensign
	1920	Flag of the Chief of Navy	A fouled anchor on a red-blue background.
?	2001–present	Australian Navy Cadets Ensign	A blue ensign with the Australian White Ensign in canton and the badge of the Australian Navy Cadets in the fly

Royal Australian Air Force

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1982–present	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel (Kangaroo) placed in the lower fly
	1948-1982	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel placed in the lower fly
	1921-1948	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1988–present	Australian Customs Flag	Australian Blue Ensign defaced with "CUSTOMS"
	1909-1988	Australian Customs Flag	Australian Blue Ensign defaced with "HMC"
	1904-1909	Australian Customs Flag	Australian Blue Ensign defaced with "HMC"
	1903-1904	Australian Customs Flag	Australian Blue Ensign defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"
	1901-1903	Australian Customs Flag	Australian Blue Ensign defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"

Law Enforcement

See List of Australian Police flags

External territories

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1980	Flag of Norfolk Island	A green field with a white square containing a green Norfolk Island Pine.
	2002	Flag of Christmas Island	The blue and green diagonal panels represent the sea and the island's vegetation, a small map of the island is included in the centre. The main emblem is a Golden Bosun Bird. The flag was selected from a competition held in 1986 and was approved in 2002.
	2004	Flag of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands	The flag is green, with a palm tree on a gold disc in the canton, a gold crescent for the Cocos Malay people in the centre of the flag and a gold southern cross in the fly. The flag was designed in 2003 becoming official in 2004.

Cities and areas

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of City of Brisbane
	1850s?	Upper Murray River Flag (House flag of the Murray River Steam Navigation Co.)	Flown by vessels on the upper reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in Victoria. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system.
	1853?	Lower Murray River Flag	Flown by vessels on the lower reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in South Australia. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system. This flag with dark blue bars is sometimes used in Victoria and NSW.
	1998	Flag of Lord Howe Island, New South Wales (unofficial)
File:Flag of Melbourne.PNG		Flag of Melbourne
?	1908	Flag of the City of Sydney

Historical

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1788 – 1801	Union Flag	The Union Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Raised by Captain Arthur Phillip RN on 26 January 1788 at Sydney Cove upon the landing of the First Fleet.
	1806	Bowman Flag	A white swallow-tail fly, with a crest featuring the Rose of England, the thistle of Scotland and the shamrock of Ireland supported by an emu and kangaroo. The design was an inspiration for Australia’s National Coat of Arms.
	1823/24 – 1831	National Colonial Flag for Australia	A British White Ensign, featuring four white stars on the red cross
	1830s – 1920s	Australian Federation Flag	A British White Ensign, featuring the cross in blue with five white stars
	1850s – 1875	Van Diemen's Land Ensign	A British White Ensign, featuring six blue bars
	1849 – 1853	Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag	British Blue Ensign, with yellow Southern Cross and white border, to which branch names were added
	1854	Eureka Flag	The battle flag of the Eureka Stockade featured the five stars of the constellation Crux Australis in white on a white cross and blue field.
	1918	Australian Honour Flag

Proposed alternative flags

Main article: List of proposed Australian flags

See also: Australian flag debate

Sporting flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1908-1912	Flag of the Australasian team at the 1908 and 1912 Olympiads	A Blue Ensign defaced by a white circle containing the British Crown plus a shield containing the Southern Cross.
	1983-?	Boxing Kangaroo flag flown by Australians at sporting events	A golden kangaroo wearing boxing gloves on a green field.

See also

• Advance Australia Fair
• Australian flag debate
• List of Australian Police flags