Talk:Eureka Flag

True or false: the colours of this flag are known, so that a Wikipedian can put it on a Lists of flags article. 66.245.88.241 02:41, 16 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

True. I am in the process of a properly proportioned image, a photo of the remains of the original Eureka Flag, and a few other images. If you are patient, they will be up before 0500 UT. =DO NOT USE= the existing image. It is not correctly proportioned! (PS - Please take the time to log in and set up a user page. That way, other Wikipedians can stay in touch with you, and welcome you too. Welcome to Wikipedia!) Denni 03:58, 2004 May 16 (UTC)

I was just wondering why one can't edit this article that's all.

Does it belong to one person or something?

Some interesting informaton is the Australian Flag Society's "Case for an unoffcial Eureka flag".

- The Eureka flag does not deserve a superior status to the Australian Federation flag.

The Eureka flag is only one historical flag from Australia's colonial past among many. What has the Eureka flag, the essence of which is a flag of protest, done to deserve a superior status to the equally (some would say more) important Federation flag, which in its day was a symbol of nationality and of the Federation movement?

- Flags of Australia should only be appointed by the Governor General.

Federal parliamentarians are planning changes to flag legislation to recognise the modern design of the Eureka flag as an official Flag of Australia. The five existing Flags and Ensigns of Australia were all proclaimed by the Governor General.

Established orderly processes and the traditions of Australian heraldry should not be jettisoned without any public consultation.

- There is no need to recognise historical flags under the Flags Act (Cwth, 1953), whether by proclamation or legislation.

According to former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry Gibbs the object of s.5 of the Flags Act is no enable the Governor General to appoint flags or ensigns for the special services e.g. the RAAF or for a particular regiment.

It is arguable that the power given by s.5 is wide enough to allow the Governor General to appoint historical flags such as the Federation Flag and the Eureka Flag. However, it is doubtful whether it would be appropriate to do so, since s.6 indicates that the flags appointed under s.5 are such as may be put to current use.

Important though the Federation Flag and the Eureka Flag may be to historians and historical societies they do not, like the many flags and ensigns in use in Australia, come within the ambit of the Act which is intended to cover only those flags which represent the nation, its people or government.

- The Australian parliament has no business deciding what the design of the Eureka flag officially looks like.

The design specifications for the Eureka flag that Senator Marshall proposes making official are not even based on the original 1854 Eureka flag. The design his bill proposes to make official is from the 'Eureka Flag style sheet' produced by the Eureka Stockade tourist centre in Ballarat.

Their modern version of the Eureka flag is an enhanced and different version to the one that flew over the Eureka Stockade and in any event the Eureka Centre is partisan and has no mandate to have the final say on this matter. This local government funded institution once ran a petition asking the Federal parliament to replace the Australian flag with the Eureka flag!

- The Eureka Flag is most well known and respected around central Victoria and national symbols are meant to mean something to all Australians.

It would be more fitting to see the Eureka flag recognised by resolution of the local council as the City of Ballarat flag then as an official Flag of Australia.

- The Eureka Stockade flag is not that historically or culturally important.

The Eureka flag was not anywhere near as widely known by Australian people in the not-too-distant past as some of the more over eager Eureka Stockade aficionados would have us believe.

It is interesting to note that in 1949 - not that long ago - a motion picture entitled the 'Eureka Stockade' was made, which starred Chips Rafferty a famous Australian actor of the day. Although the producers of the film had been to Ballarat to do research for the project the Eureka flag used was not 5 stars arranged on a white cross - it was the Southern Cross from Australia's flag!

Apparently nobody in this great central Victorian town could provide an accurate description of the rebel flag in 1949.

- Senator Marshall's private member's bill proposes to call the design the Eureka (Southern Cross) Flag.

Although some academics and historians like to refer to the Eureka flag design as the Southern Cross, this nickname does not resonate with the general public.

The Eureka Southern Cross design was a version of the NSW Ensign/Australian Federation flag of 1830s and the Australian National Colonial flag of 1820s. The Eureka flag does not feature the constellation of the Southern Cross in natural form. It is a stylised representation on a traditional Celtic Christian cross on which is placed five stars interpreted as the stars of the Southern Cross. The constellation is not distinctively Australian as the Southern Cross is used on no less that five different national flags of sovereign nations. Even the US Confederate flag is known as "The Southern Cross".

- The ownership of the original 1854 Eureka flag continues to be the source of heated argument and litigation.

The original specimen was torn down at the stockade by Police Constable John King on the morning the clash between the demonstrators and the authorities took place. What was left of the flag remained in the possession of the King family who loaned it to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in 1895.

In 2001 legal ownership of the flag was transferred to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery who expect the King family and the gallery to be acknowledged every time a replica of the original flag is displayed.