1991 Australia Day

Before the federation of the six Australian colonies on 1 January 1901 the British Union Flag

When Australia became a nation on the 1 January 1901 it hadn’t yet a national flag. The Australian colonies had previously flown Union Jack and the British Red, White, and Blue ensigns on their ships.

A competition was started by ‘The Review of Reviews of Australasia’ for a new national flag. There were more than 30,000 entries of which five people shared the £200 first prize. They had submitted near identical designs that featured a 6-pointed commonwealth star, the southern cross and Union Jack. It was flown for the first time on 3 September 1901 on the Exhibition building Melbourne, the venue of the first Commonwealth Parliament. Funnily enough it wasn’t until the Flag Act of 1953 that it was confirmed as the national flag of Australia as shown on the 43c stamp.

The lesser-known flags of Australia have exclusive uses. The Australian White Ensign as shown on the 90c stamp is used by the Royal Australian Navy while the Royal Australian Air Force has its own RAAF Ensign with a leaping red kangaroo as shown on the $1 stamp.

The Australian Red Ensign is the correct flag to be flown by privately-owned Australian registered ships. Until the 1940s, this was the people’s flag as at the time the Australian National Flag tended to only be flown on Government buildings and ships.

Technical Details

Stamp design: Dianne Cook

Issue date: 10 January 1991