The current flag of the Australian Capital Territory was officially adopted by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in 1993. The flag differs from the Australian state flags as it is not a defaced

Blue Ensign The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain or defaced with a badge or other emblem. The ev ...

. It is similar in design to the

flag of the Northern Territory The current state flag of the Northern Territory was officially adopted by the Northern Territory, Australia, in 1978. The Northern Territory has been in existence since 1911, but did not hoist its first flag until self-government in 1978. Hist ...

. The flag uses the Canberra city colours of blue and gold (which also happen to be the heraldic colours of Australia). The

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

appears as five white stars on a blue panel at the hoist, whilst in the centre of the goldfield in the fly is the modified Coat of arms of the city of Canberra. The flag was designed by Ivo Ostyn.

History and adoption

Even though the Australian Capital Territory has existed since 1909 and was given self-government in 1989, it had never had a flag of its own. In 1988Flag Winner, Canberra Times, 6 September 1988
/ref> and 1992ACT flags aplenty, including a Govt favourite
/ref> community competitions for a proposed new flag were held, in which artists and residents of the ACT could put forth their designs for the new flag. The 1988 competition, undertaken by radio station 2CC, was won by then-Chisholm resident Ivo Ostyn with a representation of the then-recently erected flagpole of New Parliament House within a circle on a dark background. The 1992 competition was undertaken by newspaper The Canberra Times. In 1993, following a 1992 motion by Opposition leader

Trevor Kaine Trevor Thomas Kaine (17 February 1928 – 3 June 2008), was an Australian politician who served as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1989 to 1991. Kaine was elected into a multi-member single electorate in the unicameral ...

, the ACT Government commenced a process to develop and select an ACT flag. The ACT Government selected four options and surveyed the public between 19 February25 March 1993 Hansard of the Legislative Assembly
/ref> and 5 March 1993

A New flag for the ACT A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

to find the public's preference. The Southern Cross and modified form of the Canberra city coat of arms received 12,624 votes compared to a stylised Brindabella range which received 10,681 votes. A motion in the Legislative Assembly to declare the flag to be the flag of the ACT was resolved in the affirmative at midday, 25 March 1993. The flag selected was designed by Ivo Ostyn, who had won the 1988 design competition and had been involved in the 1992-1993 process. In later years Ostyn spoke against his creation, indicating his preference for a simpler flag that did not bear the Canberra coat of arms.Cultivating a flower for our flag, Canberra Times, 21 August 2012
/ref> In 2020, the ACT Government commenced a process to develop a coat of arms for the ACT. The development of a territory coat of arms will not automatically replace the city coat of arms that appears on the current flag.

References

External links

* 1993 establishments in Australia Flags introduced in 1993 Flags of Australian states and territories Flag Southern Cross flags Flags displaying animals {{flag-stub

History and adoption

See also

References

External links