AUSTRALIA. — Following the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia on January 1, 1901, the Commonwealth government held a design competition for a new national flag. There were 32,823 entries in the competition, and most featured the Union Jack, the Southern Cross, or native animals.
Five almost identical entries were selected to share the 200-pound prize.
The entries belonged to Ivor Evans, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne; Leslie John Hawkins, a teenager apprenticed to an optician from Sydney; Egbert John Nuttall, an architect from Melbourne; Annie Dorrington, an artist from Perth; and William Stevens, a ship’s officer from Auckland, New Zealand.
Historically, the Australian red ensign was used on land and at sea, and Australians have fought under it during both world wars.
Until the Flags Act 1953 (Cth) proclaimed the blue ensign as the official Australian National Flag, there was considerable confusion over the appropriate use of the red ensign as opposed to the blue ensign.
On September 3, 1901, the new Australian flag flew for the first time from the top of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
The flag was simplified and approved by King Edward VII in 1902.
