For Captain: Our national flags (and coats of arms)

[boingo]

yeah I think we have dual citizenship automatically. and I don't know the difference between the flags
Does Aus have more, or less stars? I've never been patriotic so I wouldn't have a clue.

It was more just that it seemed like the obligatory New Zealandy thing to say
Kinda like how I get sheep jokes thrown my way all the time.

Don't worry, I had to look too.

Here's a picture of the Australian flag with a description of what it means:
http://www.ensignmessage.com/images/australianflag.JPG
We probably need a new flag because there's only seven stars on it, but we have six states and two territories. Presumably it's been our flag since before ACT (Australian Capitol Territory) was built specifically for Parliament.

Here's our state flag:
http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/SymbolsofWA/Pages/FlagofWesternAustralia.aspx
The Western Australian State Crest:
http://www.hagsoc.org.au/heraldry_images/state_wa.jpg
We even have separate Crests for some(If not all) cities.

Australian Coat of Arms:
http://www.peo.gov.au/students/library/pages/0106.html


The New Zealand national flag has four stars as I found out via this NZ Government web page:
http://www.mch.govt.nz/nzflag/description.html
It has exacting measurements of how the flag should be laid out, but I couldn't see a description of what it all represents.

Do you have separate state flags too?

[Captain]

oh thanks!

As far as I know we only have two, the one you posted and the Maori sovereignty one
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Flag_of_Maori.svg/800px-Flag_of_Maori.svg.png

Oh I notice our stars are way different too, I always thought they were pretty much identical but one had more

Who had the flag first do you know? I have heard it was NZ but I don't know whether that's true or not.

[Bushwalker]

Boingo, re: the seven pointed star on the Aussie flag - the seventh point is for all our territories...

As well as the two autonomous mainland territories, we also have the external territories - a big slice of Antarctica, the Cook Islands, Cocos Islands, a few bits and pieces around the Southern, Indian and . Oceans, and up in the Timor Sea.

As well as the NZ flag losing the faint star (Epsilon) from the Southern Cross, they also have yellow instead of white there..



The New Zealand flag was probably "gazetted" first, as even though the Aussie flag had been in existence for decades, (the competition for the design of the flag came after Federation..), it didn't become our "official" flag until the 1950's..


As an [slightly off topic, probably..] aside: Aussie soldiers have never fought under or for our flag - in the Boer War and WW1 it was the Union Jack flying over the army camps. The Army, Navy and Air Force had their own "ensigns" for the early wars. Aussie Soldiers did not start wearing the Aussie flag on their uniforms until after WW2; (probably Vietnam.. ). That nonsense about Aussie soldiers fighting for our flag has always come from people who never served in the military - anybody who has, even if only in Cadets or Reserves - would know they serve the country, the people, the Queen - not a piece of cloth.

[The Colonel]

8)

Boingo, re: the seven pointed star on the Aussie flag - the seventh point is for all our territories...

As well as the two autonomous mainland territories, we also have the external territories - a big slice of Antarctica, the Cook Islands, Cocos Islands, a few bits and pieces around the Southern, Indian and . Oceans, and up in the Timor Sea.

As well as the NZ flag losing the faint star (Epsilon) from the Southern Cross, they also have yellow instead of white there..



The New Zealand flag was probably "gazetted" first, as even though the Aussie flag had been in existence for decades, (the competition for the design of the flag came after Federation..), it didn't become our "official" flag until the 1950's..


As an [slightly off topic, probably..] aside: Aussie soldiers have never fought under or for our flag - in the Boer War and WW1 it was the Union Jack flying over the army camps. The Army, Navy and Air Force had their own "ensigns" for the early wars. Aussie Soldiers did not start wearing the Aussie flag on their uniforms until after WW2; (probably Vietnam.. ). That nonsense about Aussie soldiers fighting for our flag has always come from people who never served in the military - anybody who has, even if only in Cadets or Reserves - would know they serve the country, the people, the Queen - not a piece of cloth.

Very true.

[boingo]

How could I have missed out the Australian Aboriginal flag?
http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/symbols/otherflag.cfm

[Cambridge]

8)

Boingo, re: the seven pointed star on the Aussie flag - the seventh point is for all our territories...

As well as the two autonomous mainland territories, we also have the external territories - a big slice of Antarctica, the Cook Islands, Cocos Islands, a few bits and pieces around the Southern, Indian and . Oceans, and up in the Timor Sea.

As well as the NZ flag losing the faint star (Epsilon) from the Southern Cross, they also have yellow instead of white there..



The New Zealand flag was probably "gazetted" first, as even though the Aussie flag had been in existence for decades, (the competition for the design of the flag came after Federation..), it didn't become our "official" flag until the 1950's..


As an [slightly off topic, probably..] aside: Aussie soldiers have never fought under or for our flag - in the Boer War and WW1 it was the Union Jack flying over the army camps. The Army, Navy and Air Force had their own "ensigns" for the early wars. Aussie Soldiers did not start wearing the Aussie flag on their uniforms until after WW2; (probably Vietnam.. ). That nonsense about Aussie soldiers fighting for our flag has always come from people who never served in the military - anybody who has, even if only in Cadets or Reserves - would know they serve the country, the people, the Queen - not a piece of cloth.

Interesting. This parallels the theme of Australian novelist Nevel Schute, in his book, In The Wet: If the Crown isn’t welcome in the UK, she’s welcome in Australia.

I have no idea what flag the Australians fought under with the US in the EastPacc.war, but—colonel notwithstanding—the Brits never showed up to help us. Japan posed a much greater threat of world dominion than the piss-ant Germans ever did—as evidenced by the fact that we were able to dispose of the Germans a year earlier than the Japs. Yet, despite Churchill’s pleas that we help him in Normandy, no British Battleship, Carrier, nor even a destroyer, showed up at the Solomon Islands, Midway, the Coral Sea or the Turkey-shoot at the Marianas (although, by the name of the battle, you might guess that our P-38 Lockheed Lightning’s needed no help, thank you very much ). The point being, the Ozzies were always there.

[Bushwalker]

When I was in the Army reserve in the 1980's, they told us that our priorities in our allegiances were family, unit, country, Queen - in that order, and that was reflected in the oath we took when joining.

So when the Aussies go off to war they go to defend their family, protect and serve Australia, and serve "the Crown". With the Governor General being the the Queen's Man in Canberra, (s)he will be the titular head of the defence forces. The actual bosses of the Defence Forces are the top officers in the Army, Navy and Air Force - with the leadership rotating between the three branches.

With the politicians, the Minister for Defence is the head honcho, and there is also a junior minister for defence procurement.

[Bushwalker]

[
Interesting. This parallels the theme of Australian novelist Nevel Schute, in his book, In The Wet: If the Crown isn’t welcome in the UK, she’s welcome in Australia.

I have no idea what flag the Australians fought under with the US in the EastPacc.war, but—colonel notwithstanding—the Brits never showed up to help us. Japan posed a much greater threat of world dominion than the piss-ant Germans ever did—as evidenced by the fact that we were able to dispose of the Germans a year earlier than the Japs. Yet, despite Churchill’s pleas that we help him in Normandy, no British Battleship, Carrier, nor even a destroyer, showed up at the Solomon Islands, Midway, the Coral Sea or the Turkey-shoot at the Marianas (although, by the name of the battle, you might guess that our P-38 Lockheed Lightning’s needed no help, thank you very much ). The point being, the Ozzies were always there.

The Aussie navy had the Australian Red Ensign on their ships; the Army had their own (Defence Forces Ensigns..) flag that would have flown over some of their camps - they may have also had the Australian flag flying there sometimes, but that was still a decade or so so before it finally became our official flag. The badge of the Australian Army is the Rising Sun that is worn on the slouch hat - this is the unique symbol that identifies the Aussies wherever they go. The unit/corps emblem is on the front of the unit's beret -( the unit I was in was part of the Corps of Transport - the star shaped badge 3rd row down in the table shown on this link).