Australia Flag

Illustration of a blue flag with white stars and red stripes over black text on a white background

A competition to design Australia’s national flag was held in 1901 and of the 32,823 entries, 5 contestants with similar entries won and split the prize money. In 1954 after a few modifications, the flag pictured became the official Australian national flag. The flag features the British Union Jack in the left corner, the Commonwealth star underneath the British Union Jack, and the Southern Cross constellation on the right half of the flag. The British Union Jack represents Australia’s link with the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth star represents the six states and territories of Australia. The Southern Cross represents Australia’s position in the southern hemisphere and each star is named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon.