The Queen's Personal Australian Flag was the flag of Elizabeth II in her role as Queen of Australia. It was used in a similar way as the Royal Standard in the UK, by signalling the monarch's presence within a building or vehicle in Australia.
The flag was approved for use on 20 September 1962, and used for the first time during Queen Elizabeth II's 1963 royal tour.[1]
The flag consisted 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, 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:[2]
The gold seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star), represents the states and territories. The blue disc was taken from the Queen's Personal Flag as used for duties within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The flag was 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 simple dimensions for the flag elements, with a border of 2 units thick, and central squares of dimensions 9×9.
The Queen's Personal Flag for Australia was only used when she was visiting Australia, on Royal Australian Navy vessels, on official buildings, or other places only when the Queen was actually present. The only exception was for land-based parades in honour of her birthday, when it could be flown even when not present. When it was flown on or outside a building, it had to be the only flag present.[1]
During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at Westminster Abbey, the standards of various countries are carried by various officials in the procession inside the abbey. These flags are the country's coat of arms as a banner of arms. For Australia, similar standards based on the current and previous coat of arms were used thrice: at the coronations of King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner of the 1908-1912 coat of arms was used in 1911,[3] [4] with the banner of the current arms used in 1937 and 1953.[5] The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement.