What Our Flag Says
The Australian Friday, January 19, 2001
Let’s keep our flag as it is. The world is already inundated with symbols and logos that don’t tell you anything.
The Union Jack is recognised the world over as meaning that we speak English. The Southern Cross indicates the physical fact that we are down under. And the big star says we are a federation of states. It would be hard to improve on that lot – it’s all true and it’s all relevant.
Surely there’s no longer any need to prove our independence from Britain. The empire died decades ago, and the cultural legacy (such as our legal system) is a fact of Australian life.
Given the truly descriptive character of the flag we’ve got, I don’t see how the confusion and expense of a new flag could be justified.
Philip O'Carroll