Australian Red Ensign – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From 1901 to 1954 the Red Ensign was used as a civil flag by State and local governments, private organisations and individuals. The Blue Ensign was reserved for use by the Commonwealth Government, the Australian Olympic team and the military as a saluting flag at all reviews and ceremonial parades.

In 1941, Prime Minister Robert Menzies stated that there should be no restrictions on private citizens using the Blue Ensign on land and, in 1947, Prime Minister Ben Chifley reaffirmed this position but it wasn’t until the passage of the Flags Act 1953 that the restriction on civilians flying the Blue Ensign was officially lifted after which use of the Red Ensign on land became a rarity.

Australian Red Ensign

via Australian Red Ensign – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I can’t remember seeing an Australian Red Ensign flag being flown before but there was one flying next to the Blue Ensign and the Victorian Flag near the War Memorial in Melbourne today.  September the third is Flag Day so perhaps that is why the Australian Red Ensign is currently on display.

This was the flag that Australian citizens could legally fly as the Australian flag before the Flags Act 1953. Before 1941, Australian citizens were not encouraged to fly what we now recognise as the National Flag.

An image of the two flags in the Flags Act 1953 (page 4)

Some points to note about the Flags Act 1953:

The Flags Act 1953 (title page) was assented to by Queen Elizabeth II herself during her royal visit early in 1954. This was the first royal visit by a ruling monarch to Australia.

There was a major drafting error in Table A of the Flags Act 1953 (page 3) that incorrectly deemed the outer diameter of the Commonwealth Star to be 3/8th of the width of the flag (it is actually 3/10th of the flag’s width). This was promptly corrected in the Flags Act 1954 and the correction was made to be come into effect from the date that the Flags Act 1953 applied.