The King's Flag for Australia is the flag of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

in his role as

King of Australia The monarchy of Australia is a key component of politics of Australia, Australia's form of government, by which a hereditary monarch serves as the country's sovereign and head of state. It is a constitutional monarchy, modelled on the Westmi ...

. It is used in a similar way as the

Royal Standard of the United Kingdom The royal standard of the United Kingdom is the banner of arms of the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Charles III. It consists of the monarch's coat of arms in flag form, and is made up of four quarters containing the arms of the forme ...

, by signalling the monarch's presence within a building or vehicle in Australia.

History

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

was the first Australian monarch to adopt a personal flag for Australia. Her flag was approved for use on 20 September 1962, and used for the first time during the 1963 royal tour. The personal flag of Queen Elizabeth differed from that of Charles III as it was 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. The star represented the states and territories. The blue disc was taken from the Queen's Personal Flag, used by her for duties as Head of the Commonwealth of Nations. King Charles III similarly adopted an Australian flag to acknowledge his role as King of Australia. It was approved on 30 August 2024 and used for the first time on his inaugural royal tour to the country as monarch in October 2024. File:ITM1055867 IM0004 (51763909674).jpg, Elizabeth II's personal 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

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

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 ...

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

, 1988

Description

The King's Flag consists of a banner of the device upon the arms of Australia. 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 the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereign, administrative divisions that are self-governing polities, having ceded some sovereign rights to the feder ...

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

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and bears a red

St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross (or 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 ...

, 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: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and contains a crown and five white stars on a blue field. * The upper right represents

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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 develope ...

, bearing a crown, on a white field. * The lower left represents

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

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. The Piping Shrike is sometimes mistakenly associated with ...

on a gold field. * The lower middle represents

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and consists of a

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, 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 ...

on a gold field with wings up. * The lower right represents

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and contains a red lion on a white field.

Use

The King's Flag for Australia is used when the King is visiting Australia, on

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

vessels, on official buildings, cars and aircraft that the King occupies. When it is flown on or outside a building, it should be the only flag present. The flag has also been used to indicate the symbolic presence of the monarch, such as during presentations of the

King's colours In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 year ...

during the

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

. The King's colours symbolically are equivalent to the presence of the monarch.

Coronation and jubilee 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 Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, 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, characterised by sharing its imagery with that of the coat of arms (''i.e.'' the shield of a full heraldic achievement, rendered in a square or rectangular shape of the flag). The term is derived from ...

. 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. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

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 In ...

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. At the 2023

coronation of King Charles III The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...

, the

Australian national flag The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Crux, Southe ...

was used to represent Australia. File:Coronation Standard of Australia (1911).svg, 1911 Coronation Standard File:Coronation Standard of Australia.svg, 1935 jubilee standard, 1937 and 1953 Coronation Standard File:Flag of Australia (converted, 3-2).svg, 2023 Coronation Standard

References

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

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Monarchy of Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

1962 establishments in Australia Flags displaying animals Charles III flags

History

Description

Use

Coronation and jubilee standards

See also

References