The Queen's Personal Australian Flag was the personal flag of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in her role as

Queen of Australia Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

. It was used in a similar way as the

Royal Standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, an ...

in the UK, signalling the Queen's presence in Australia, in this case.

History

The flag was approved for use on 20 September 1962, and used for the first time during her 1963 royal tour.

Description

The flag consists of a banner of the coat of arms of Australia, defaced with a gold seven-pointed federation

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

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 A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual, family or corporate body. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance. They are ...

of the

Australian states The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...

, and the whole is surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states: :*The Upper Left represents

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and bears a red

St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...

, upon which is a gold lion in the centre and a gold star on each arm. :*The Upper Middle represents

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and contains a Crown and five white stars on a blue field. :*The Upper Right represents

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and consists of a blue

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

, bearing a Crown, on a white field. :*The Lower Left represents

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and includes a

piping shrike The badge on the Flag of South Australia depicts the rising sun, and a Piping Shrike standing on a branch of a gum tree. The Piping Shrike is more commonly known as a White-backed Magpie. ThPiping Shrikeis sometimes mistakenly associated with the ...

on a gold field. :*The Lower Middle represents

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and consists of a

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

on a gold field. :*The Lower Right represents

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and contains a red lion on a white field. The gold seven-pointed star (the

Commonwealth Star The Commonwealth Star (also known as the Federation Star, the Seven Point Star, or the Star of Federation) is a seven-pointed star symbolising the Federation of Australia which came into force on 1 January 1901. Six points of the Star represent ...

), represents the states and the

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. The blue disc is taken from the Queen's Personal Flag as used for duties within the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. The flag is 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.

Use

The Queen's Personal Flag for Australia was only used when she was visiting Australia, on

Her Majesty's Australian Ship His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) (or Her Majesty's Australian Ship when the monarch is female) is a ship prefix used for commissioned units of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). This prefix is derived from HMS (Her/His Majesty's Ship), the pre ...

s, 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. File:ITM1055867 IM0004 (51763909674).jpg, The Queen's Australian flag being used in Brisbane, 1982 File:Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the Closing Ceremony of the XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane.jpg, The flag being used by the Queen during the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

in Brisbane File:ITM436215 Dept No CN88-837E (51762433127).jpg, The flag being used on a vessel carrying the Queen, 1988

Coronation standards

During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, 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 A banner of arms is a type of heraldic flag which has the same image as a coat of arms, ''i.e.'' the shield of a full achievement (heraldry), heraldic achievement, rendered in a square or rectangular shape of the flag. The term is derived from t ...

. For Australia, similar standards based on the current and previous coat of arms were used thrice: at the coronations of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

and

in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner of the 1908-1912 coat of arms was used in 1911, with the banner of the current arms used in 1937 and 1953. The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement. File:Coronation Standard of Australia (1911).svg, 1911 Coronation Standard File:Coronation Standard of Australia.svg, 1937 and 1953 Coronation Standard

References

*Barraclough, E. M. C. and Crampton, W. G. (1978). ''Flags of the World''. London: Frederick Warne. . P. 207

External links

Queen Elizabeth II's Personal Standard in Australia
at ''Flags of the World''. Accessed 8 February 2006. {{Australian Flags

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Monarchy in Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

1962 establishments in Australia Flags displaying animals

History

Description

Use

Coronation standards

See also

References

External links