King's Personal Australian Flag

The personal Australian flag of Queen Elizabeth II

The flag with proportions 22:31

The flag the Queen of Australia at the closing ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, 1982

The King's Personal Australian Flag is the personal flag of King Charles III in his role as King of Australia. It in a similar way as the Royal Standard in the UK, signals the King's presence, in Australia in this case.

History

The flag was approved for use on 20 September 1962, and used for the first time during Queen Elizabeth II's 1963 royal tour.

Description

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:

• 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.

Use

The King's Personal Flag for Australia is only used when the monarch is visiting Australia, on His Majesty's Australian Ships, on official buildings, or other places only when the King is actually present. The only exception was for land-based parades in honour of his birthday, when it can be flown even when not present. When it is flown on or outside a building, it has to be the only flag present.

Parts of the design of the flag, most notably any reference to the Monarch's cipher are likely to be replaced following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Coronation standards

During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at Westminster Abbey, the "standards" of various countries are carried by various officials in the procession inside the abbey. These flags are the country's coat of arms as a banner of arms. For Australia, similar standards based on the current and previous coat of arms were used thrice: at the coronations of King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner of the 1908-1912 coat of arms was used in 1911, with the banner of the current arms used in 1937 and 1953. The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement.

• Australian coronation standards
• 

  1911 Coronation Standard

• 

  1937 and 1953 Coronation Standard

See also

• List of Australian flags
• Flag of the Governor-General of Australia
• Flags of the governors of the Australian states

References

• 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.