| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|
| 1901–1903 | Red version of the 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition winner | A Red Ensign defaced with the six-point Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (each star had a varying number of points: 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5—with Alpha Crucis being larger than Beta and Gamma and with Delta being smaller than Beta and Gamma[8]). |
| 1903–1909 | Old Red Ensign, first version approved by King Edward VII | A Red Ensign defaced with the six-point Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (all stars had seven points, except the smallest star only had 5 points). |
| 1909–present | Australian Red Ensign | A Red Ensign defaced with the seven-point Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half. |
| 1935–1948 | Old Australian Civil Air Ensign | Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in yellow. |
| 1948–present | Australian Civil Air Ensign | Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in white. | |
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|
| 1921–1948 | Royal Australian Air Force Ensign | British Royal Air Force Ensign. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 1982–present | Flag of an Air Chief Marshal | Five horizontal stripes of dark blue, light blue, red, light blue and dark blue, four six-pointed stars in the middle stripe. |
| 1982–present | Flag of an Air Marshal | Five horizontal stripes of dark blue, light blue, red, light blue and dark blue, three six-pointed stars in the middle stripe. |
| 1982–present | Flag of an Air Vice Marshal | Five horizontal stripes of dark blue, light blue, red, light blue and dark blue, two six-pointed stars in the middle stripe. | |
The department names of Australia's border protection service have slightly changed over time, they are as follows;
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 1982–present | Flag of the Australian Federal Police | A black-white-black vertical tricolor, with the badge of the Australian Federal Police in the centre of the white stripe. A black-and-white checkerboard borders the flag. |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 1981–present | Flag of the New South Wales Police Force | An azure-and-white horizontal bicolor with the badge of the New South Wales Police Force in the centre of the flag. |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 2006–present | Flag of the Northern Territory Police | A variant of the Northern Territory flag with the Northern Territory Police badge replacing the flower in the fly. |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 2006–present | Flag of the Queensland Police Service | A light blue-and-dark blue horizontal bicolor with the badge of the Queensland Police Service in the centre of the flag. |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 1993–present | Flag of the South Australia Police | A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the South Australia Police within a white disk. |
|---|
| ??–present | Flag of the Tasmania Police | An azure flag with the badge of the Tasmania Police in the centre of the flag. |
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | ??–present | Flag of the Victoria Police | A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the Victoria Police. |
|---|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 2005–present | Flag of the Western Australia Police | A white flag with a stylised depiction of a swan and checkerboard in blue, with the Western Australia Police emblem added. | |
|---|
| Flag | Date | Use | Description |
|---|
| 1982–present | Armorial Flag of the City of Adelaide | Blue background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined in gold overlain with the Arms of the City of Adelaide. Flag bordered on three sides by diagonal blue and gold stripes.[12] |
| | Flag of the local government area of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara | The logo of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara on a red field. |
| 1947–present[13] | Flag of the City of Brisbane | Blue background (representing the Brisbane River) bordered by a golden checker pattern (representing the Sun and Brisbane's warm climate) with the flag divided into six quarters. The upper hoist quarter contains a golden caducei superimposed on wavy white lines, representing the Brisbane River and its ties to the city's commerce. The lower hoist quarter contains two Stafford knots and a white star arranged vertically (all represent the achievements in astronomy of Sir Thomas Brisbane, for whom the city is named). The remaining segments alternate between these two designs. The flag design is based on the shield on the coat of arms of Brisbane.[14] [15] |
| 2009–present | Flag of the City of Darwin | According to council policy, Darwin maintains two flags.[16] The policy reads "One flag will contain the official Coat of Arms, with its nine colours and the CITY OF DARWIN printed underneath in blue, on a yellow background flanked by red and green. The other flag will contain the City Logo and be in the colours of blue, green and white, on a white background."[17] |
| | Flag of the City of Hobart | The flag of Hobart City Council, of Tasmania, Australia. Designed in 1951 by Hobart architect and alderman, I.G. Anderson and first flown in 1953. The star is derived from the arms of Lord Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760–1816), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time of colonial settlement (1804), and after whom Hobart is named. The colour used on the arms Lord Hobart was, in fact, sable (black), rather than blue.
The red lion is from the Tasmanian flag – and its location at the top of the shield signifies Hobart's position as the Capital City.[18]
|
| | Flag of the City of Launceston | The Launceston flag design is based on the city's coat of arms granted by the College of Arms, London, on 11 June 1957.[19] The Brisbane Street Mall, the War memorial at Royal Park, the original Queen Victoria Museum (now the Art Gallery) building, atop the Council Chambers and on top of the Albert Hall are places in the city where the flag is regularly flown. The three intersecting lines in the flag represent the city's three rivers (North Esk, South Esk and Tamar) and the two rectangles in the lines represent tin ingots. The strip across the top with the jagged edge is green to represent the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside. Waratah flowers at the top symbolise all flowers and similar beauties of nature. The ingots are included because Launceston used to be a large tin smelting centre. The little circle at the river junction is Launceston. |
| | Flag of the City of Melbourne | White background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined by a concise and overlain with St Edward's Crown. Quadrant features represent the main activities of the economy of the City of Melbourne in the mid 19th century and are, in a clockwise direction from top left, a fleece hanging from a red ring (wool), a black bull standing on a hillock (cattle), a three-mast ship in full sail (shipping), and a spouting whale in the sea (whaling). The flag design is identical to the shield on the coat of arms of Melbourne.[20] |
| 1961–present | Flag of the City of Newcastle | The colours are brown over green, taken from the shoulder patch of a Battalion raised in the Newcastle/Hunter region. The shield has a gold chief, containing a black diamond, a white sheep's fleece banded gold and a black wheel, representing the principal pursuits of the area: coal mining, farming and grazing, and industry and trade. Below this, the field is green, with a blue downward pointed triangle (pile) bordered gold, portraying a port with the waters of the sea thrusting into the green land. Fertility is emphasised by the gold border. The crest is a lighthouse, for the Nobby's Head lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour, and sits on a helmet with mural crown (city status) and blue, green and gold mantling. The arms stand on a compartment depicting the golden sand and white waves of the city's beaches (with a scroll inscribed "Enterprise") and are supported by two seagulls with mural crowns (the setting and nature of the city).[21] |
| 1949–present | Flag of the City of Perth | Saint George's Cross overlaid with the City of Perth coat of arms in the centre.[22] |
| 1908–present | Flag of the City of Sydney | The flag is a horizontal triband of three colours – white, gold and blue. The top third features three designs. In the top left the arms belong to Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney, after whom the city was named. The English Naval Flag in the centre acknowledges the role Arthur Philip played in Sydney's foundation. The red cross is overlaid with a globe and two stars – the principal features of James Cook's Arms, which were granted as a posthumous honour for his service in mapping Australia. The arms in the top right belong to the first Lord Mayor of Sydney, Thomas Hughes. It was during his term of office that the title of Mayor became Lord Mayor, and the official coat of arms for the city was granted. The remaining field of the flag features a ship under full sail, an allusion to the prominence of Sydney as a maritime port.[23] |
| circa 1960–2008 | Flag of the City of Toowoomba | The flag of Toowoomba city is a violet coloured ensign which makes reference to the city's floral emblem of the day, the Toowoomba Violet (aka the sweet violet, Lat. 'Viola odorata').[24] Notable is the city's coat of arms[25] in the centre of the ensign and the city's name on the left of the flag, lettered from top to bottom.[26]
|
| 2008–present | Flag of Toowoomba | A new Toowoomba flag was created in 2007 and became the official flag of the Toowoomba Region on 15 March 2008 with the amalgamation of 8 councils; The councils were Clifton Shire, Crows Nest Shire, Cambooya Shire, Jondaryan Shire, Millmerran Shire, Pittsworth Shire, Rosalie Shire and Toowoomba City.[27] The predominant colours are white and teal. The three white rings in the flag intersect to create eight spaces from their loops and exterior, symbolising the unity of the eight amalgamated former councils. The colour of teal also represents unity.[28]
|
| Link to file< | -- Do NOT display a non-free flag image here. See talk page for more information --> | 1965–present | Flag of Wagga Wagga | Officially, the Wagga Wagga City Flag is square.[29] The upper quarter of the flag contains eight stalks of wheat positioned so as to form two capital letters W on a vert (green) field. The lower quarter of the upper half of the flag contains a wavy blue line on gold (yellow) representing the river winding through the wheat fields. The lower half of the flag contains the head of a ram positioned centrally on a vert (green) field. |
|---|
| 1850–present | Upper Murray River Flag | 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 and their dark hue represents the darker colour of the Murray River's darker waters in Victoria and NSW. |
| 1850–present | 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 and their light hue represents the lighter colour of the Murray River's lighter waters in South Australia. |
| 1998–present | Flag of Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Despite being an unofficial flag of a state-integrated island, it is used to represent the island. | |
| 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. |
| 1801–1903 | Union Flag | The Union Flag of the United Kingdom. |
| 1806 | Bowman flag | A white swallow-tail fly, with a crest featuring the Rose of England, the thistle of Scotland and the shamrock of Northern 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 |
| 1831–1903 (de facto Flag of Australia); 1903–1920s (still commonly used) | Australian Federation Flag/New South Wales Ensign | A British White Ensign, featuring the Cross in Azure with five Argent Stars often varying between 5–8 Points. It was the de facto flag of Australia from 1 January 1901 to 3 September 1901. It was widely used in New South Wales as a local shipping ensign until 1883 when the Admiralty banned its continued use at sea. The Australian government received approval to fly the Blue Ensign in 1903—but the Australian Federation Flag was still commonly unofficially used by members of the populace as late as the 1920s. |
| 1849–1853 | Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag | British Blue Ensign, with yellow Southern Cross and white border, to which branch names were added |
| 1850s–1875 | Van Diemen's Land Ensign | A British White Ensign, featuring six blue bars |
| 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 |
| 1859 | Queensland Separation Flag | The Queensland Separation Flag, flown on 10 December 1859 to mark Queensland becoming a separate colony from New South Wales. A red cross on a light blue field, with the Union Jack in the canton. |
| 1860s | Lambing Flat riots banner, flag and banner flag | Flags associated with the Anti-Chinese Lambing Flat riots. |
| Post 1910– | British Empire flag | An unofficial flag of the British Empire featuring its constituent dominions and India. The Australian coat of arms are featured in the bottom right. It was flown by civilians as a display of patriotism on special occasions such as Empire Day. The flag was flown at the official unveiling of the Dangarsleigh War Memorial in 1921, and again at the centennial in 2021.[41] |
| 1918 | Australian Honour Flag | Awarded to towns who exceeded double their quota of war funding. |
| 1988 | Bicentennial Flag | The 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia[42] |
| 2001 | Centenary of Federation Flag | The 100th anniversary of Federation – the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia | |
