In 1901, Australia became a single country, instead of six separate colonies.A competition was held to design a new flag for the new country. The origins of the flag are plain to see: Australia was settled by the British in 1788 and remained a colony until its independence in 1901. Today Australia has a global, non-discriminatory policy and is home to people from more than 200 countries. In 1996 the Governor-General, Sir William Deane, proclaimed 3rd September as Australian National Flag Day, to commemorate the day in 1901 on which our national flag of "Stars and Crosses" was first flown. In the decades following federation the red ensign was also the preeminent flag in use by private citizens on land. Now that regular people could fly the blue flag, the red flag fell out of use. From 1900 to 1914 great progress was made in developing Australia’s agricultural and manufacturing capacities, and in setting up institutions for government and social services. Like any other flag the Australian flag is full of symbolism and stirs pride in Australians, young and old alike. Australia's flag is also called the Commonwealth Blue Ensign. History. For a more detailed discussion of Aboriginal culture, see Australian Aboriginal peoples. national flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) with the Union Jack in the canton and six white stars. The flag of Australia is a national flag. Honours the ideals for which our national flag stands including our history, geography and unity as a federated nation. The Flag Act of 1953 affirmed the blue ensign as the official Australian flag, and allowed private citizens to fly it. The blue Australian national flag is flown on the jack-staff at the bow, when vessels are in port. Since the arrival of the settlers, the native population died from new diseases, alcohol and poverty, as their native land was taken away from them. The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack was still the official flag in Australia until 1954. From 1901 to 1924 the red ensign was used as the national flag by state and local governments. On these days flags can be seen in the streets attached to cars, in shop windows and on an endless array […] The winning flag has a blue background, the Union Jack, and six stars.Five stars are in the shape of the constellation the Southern Cross, the other is the Commonwealth Star. [1] Everyone else that wanted to use an Australian flag used the red one, called the Red Ensign. A very short history of Australia. The National Australian Flag is most often flown by the general public on celebrated days of Australian history such as Australia Day (January 26) or on days of remembrance such as ANZAC Day (April 25). The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. Australia Flag vs New Zealand Flag Australia and New Zealand are countries that were previously under the British rule and therefore, it is no wonder their two national flags are quite similar in many ways. By the end of the 19th century, there were only less than 100.000 Aboriginal people. Prior to documented history, travelers from Asia may have reached Australia.