Queen's Personal Australian Flag

Queen's Personal Australian Flag

The Royal Standard for Australia in 22:31

The Queen's Personal Australian Flag is the personal flag of Queen Elizabeth II in her role as Queen of Australia. The flag was approved for use in 1962. It is only used by the Queen when she is in Australia, or attending an event abroad in her role as head of state of Australia. The Queen's representative, the Governor-General of Australia has a separate flag.

The flag consists of a banner of the coat of arms of Australia, defaced with a gold seven-pointed federation star with a blue disc containing the letter E below a crown, surrounded by a garland of golden roses.

Each of the six sections of the flag represents the heraldic badge of the Australian states, and the whole is surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states:^[1]

• The Upper Left represents New South Wales and bears a red St George's Cross, upon which is a gold lion in the centre and a gold star on each arm.
• The Upper Middle represents Victoria and contains a Crown and five white stars on a blue field.
• The Upper Right represents Queensland and consists of a blue Maltese cross, bearing a Crown, on a white field.
• The Lower Left represents South Australia and includes a piping shrike on a gold field.
• The Lower Middle represents Western Australia and consists of a black swan on a gold field.
• The Lower Right represents Tasmania and contains a red lion on a white field.

The gold seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star), represents the states and the territories. The blue disc is taken from the Queen's Personal Flag as used for duties within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The flag is used in two ratios, 1:2 and 22:31. The 1:2 ratio ensures the flag maintains visual integrity with other naval flags, which are 1:2. A 22:31 ratio gives simple dimensions for the flag elements, with a border of 2 units thick, and central squares of dimensions 9×9.

See also

• List of Australian flags

References

1. Government of Australia: Department of the Environment and Water Resources

• Barraclough, E. M. C. and Crampton, W. G. (1978). Flags of the World. London: Frederick Warne. ISBN 0-7232-2015-8. P. 207

External links

• Queen Elizabeth II's Personal Standard in Australia at Flags of the World. Accessed 8 February 2006.