The flag of Victoria is a BritishBlue Ensigndefaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly. The badge is the Southern Cross surmounted by an imperial crown, which is currently the St Edward's Crown. The stars of the Southern Cross are white and range from five to eight points with each star having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The flag dates from 1870,[1] with minor variations, the last of which was in 1901. It is the only Australian state flag not to feature the state badge on a round disc.
In 1844, John Harrison, the father of H. C. A. Harrison, designed a flag for the Separation Society, an organisation advocating for the separation of the Port Phillip District (present-day Victoria) from the Colony of New South Wales. The flag, featuring "a white star centred on a crimson ground", was flown at a large open-air meeting on Batman's Hill in June 1844.[2] It was described more fully in the Port Phillip Gazette:[3]
The flag will in size be about seven feet by five, of a deep crimson ground, with a white five pointed star in the middle; on one side the device is a sheep suspended with the words "Squatters, guard your rights," as an inscription, on the counter side are two pillars to represent commerce and agriculture based on the blocks of honor and truth; suspended over and midway between the columns, is a crown supported by a ribbon upon which the word "loyalty" is inscribed; a pair of sheep shears bearing the word "tyranny," cross the ribbon above the crown. The union is pictured in the form of clasped hands between the two pillars, under which is the motto "Keep yourselves and God will keep you." On the point of the pole will he formed gilded kangaroo.
Harrison flew the flag again in 1851 at a meeting of miners on the goldfields at Bendigo.[4]
Previous official flagsedit
The first flag of Victoria was adopted in 1870 and was first flown from HMVS Nelson on 9 February 1870.[5] It too was a defaced British Blue Ensign with the Southern Cross located in the fly. The stars of the Southern Cross were white and had 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 points with only the leftmost and rightmost stars having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The adoption of the flag came about when Victoria became the first Australian colony to acquire a warship, and thus under the British Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 Victoria needed a flag to distinguish its ships from other British ships. At the same time, the red ensign was incorrectly authorised for use by civil vessels registered in the colony of Victoria.[citation needed] Despite the invalid authorisation, the flag continued to be used, and was flown alongside the Union flag during federation celebrations in 1901. The red ensign did not track changes to the blue ensign, and so no crown was added, nor did the stars rotate to point upwards facing the flag.
Victoria then adopted the current flag in 1877 with the stars of the southern cross from then on having 5, 6, 7, 7 and 8 points. Initially the crown had slightly dipped arches in accordance with the wishes of the monarch at the time.[citation needed] In 1901, the lieutenant-governor advised the secretary of state that henceforth a St Edward's Crown would be used on the now state flag.[6]
Constructionedit
Unlike the national flag, the flag of Victoria is not enshrined and protected by any acts of state or Commonwealth government. As a result, there are no official legal requirements for the construction of the flag of Victoria. However, tradition and decorum dictate that is should be:
the Union Jack occupying the upper quarter next the staff;
the fly is to be wholly blue, in line with the British Blue Ensign;
the State Badge is to be situated with its centre halfway between the edge of the canton and the end of the fly, and to occupy the majority of thereof;
^"Victorian Flag". Department of Premier and Cabinet, Government of Victoria. 9 March 2016.
^Kiers, Dorothy (1972). "Harrison, John (1802–1869)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 4. Melbourne University Press.
^"Domestic intelligence". Port Phillip Gazette. 29 May 1844.
^Wositzky, Jan (2014). The Monster Meeting Book: How Eureka began with the 1851 Forest Creek Monster Meeting of Diggers(PDF). Chewton Domain Society. p. 92.
^"About the Victorian flag | Victorian Government". www.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
flag, victoria, state, flag, victoria, british, blue, ensign, defaced, state, badge, victoria, badge, southern, cross, surmounted, imperial, crown, which, currently, edward, crown, stars, southern, cross, white, range, from, five, eight, points, with, each, st. The flag of Victoria is a British Blue Ensign defaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly The badge is the Southern Cross surmounted by an imperial crown which is currently the St Edward s Crown The stars of the Southern Cross are white and range from five to eight points with each star having one point pointing to the top of the flag The flag dates from 1870 1 with minor variations the last of which was in 1901 It is the only Australian state flag not to feature the state badge on a round disc VictoriaUseCivil and state flagProportion1 2Adopted6 March 1870DesignA state badge of a white Southern Cross surmounted by St Edward s Crown on a defaced British Blue Ensign Contents 1 History 1 1 1844 separation flag 1 2 Previous official flags 2 Construction 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory edit1844 separation flag edit In 1844 John Harrison the father of H C A Harrison designed a flag for the Separation Society an organisation advocating for the separation of the Port Phillip District present day Victoria from the Colony of New South Wales The flag featuring a white star centred on a crimson ground was flown at a large open air meeting on Batman s Hill in June 1844 2 It was described more fully in the Port Phillip Gazette 3 The flag will in size be about seven feet by five of a deep crimson ground with a white five pointed star in the middle on one side the device is a sheep suspended with the words Squatters guard your rights as an inscription on the counter side are two pillars to represent commerce and agriculture based on the blocks of honor and truth suspended over and midway between the columns is a crown supported by a ribbon upon which the word loyalty is inscribed a pair of sheep shears bearing the word tyranny cross the ribbon above the crown The union is pictured in the form of clasped hands between the two pillars under which is the motto Keep yourselves and God will keep you On the point of the pole will he formed gilded kangaroo Harrison flew the flag again in 1851 at a meeting of miners on the goldfields at Bendigo 4 Previous official flags edit The first flag of Victoria was adopted in 1870 and was first flown from HMVS Nelson on 9 February 1870 5 It too was a defaced British Blue Ensign with the Southern Cross located in the fly The stars of the Southern Cross were white and had 5 6 7 8 and 9 points with only the leftmost and rightmost stars having one point pointing to the top of the flag The adoption of the flag came about when Victoria became the first Australian colony to acquire a warship and thus under the British Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 Victoria needed a flag to distinguish its ships from other British ships At the same time the red ensign was incorrectly authorised for use by civil vessels registered in the colony of Victoria citation needed Despite the invalid authorisation the flag continued to be used and was flown alongside the Union flag during federation celebrations in 1901 The red ensign did not track changes to the blue ensign and so no crown was added nor did the stars rotate to point upwards facing the flag Victoria then adopted the current flag in 1877 with the stars of the southern cross from then on having 5 6 7 7 and 8 points Initially the crown had slightly dipped arches in accordance with the wishes of the monarch at the time citation needed In 1901 the lieutenant governor advised the secretary of state that henceforth a St Edward s Crown would be used on the now state flag 6 Construction editUnlike the national flag the flag of Victoria is not enshrined and protected by any acts of state or Commonwealth government As a result there are no official legal requirements for the construction of the flag of Victoria However tradition and decorum dictate that is should be the Union Jack occupying the upper quarter next the staff the fly is to be wholly blue in line with the British Blue Ensign the State Badge is to be situated with its centre halfway between the edge of the canton and the end of the fly and to occupy the majority of thereof nbsp State badge of VictoriaGallery edit nbsp nbsp Flag of Victoria 1870 1877 nbsp nbsp Victorian red ensign 1870 1877 nbsp nbsp Flag of Victoria 1877 nbsp nbsp Flag of Victoria 1877 1901 nbsp nbsp Flag of Victoria 1901 presentSee also editCoat of arms of Victoria List of Australian flags Flags of the governors of the Australian statesReferences edit Victorian Flag Department of Premier and Cabinet Government of Victoria 9 March 2016 Kiers Dorothy 1972 Harrison John 1802 1869 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 4 Melbourne University Press Domestic intelligence Port Phillip Gazette 29 May 1844 Wositzky Jan 2014 The Monster Meeting Book How Eureka began with the 1851 Forest Creek Monster Meeting of Diggers PDF Chewton Domain Society p 92 About the Victorian flag Victorian Government www vic gov au Retrieved 19 July 2023 About the Victorian flag vic gov au Victorian Government 10 June 2022 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Victoria Australia Victoria at Flags of the World Flags flown by HMVS Cerberus Portals nbsp Heraldry nbsp Victoria Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Flag of Victoria state amp oldid 1219868809, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
