The Australian National Flag turned 124 this year, and Parliament marked the milestone with a spirited celebration in the Great Hall on Sept. 1.
Schoolchildren sang the national anthem alongside MPs in a ceremony led by House of Representatives Speaker Milton Dick.
“The national flag is our most recognised national symbol. It flies above our nation’s parliament, 365 days a year, seven days a week. It’s a symbol of our unity, our identity, and pride,” Dick told the students.
National Flag Day, officially declared in 1996, commemorates the first time the flag was flown in 1901 at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building. The date also coincides with National Wattle Day, celebrating Australia’s resilience and unity.
A Competition That Made History
Dick reminded the audience that the flag we know today came from one of the world’s first open design competitions.
“The Federation, the new Commonwealth government, held a competition that received 30,000 entries,” he said.
Designs ranged from a Union Jack with the Southern Cross to kangaroos with multiple tails.
“The winners received a prize money of around 200 pounds, and the winners were students who won the competition,” he said.
He explained the symbolism: the Union Jack marking ties to Britain, the Commonwealth Star initially with six points—later updated to seven to represent the territories—and the Southern Cross, pointing to Australia’s place in the hemisphere.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman added his own reflection, highlighting the care that goes into preserving and raising the flag on Parliament’s roof, and the unique detail that sets apart the Flags Act of 1953.
“It’s the only piece of legislation that actually has a drawing. It has a drawing that represents how the flag must be prepared,” he said.
Gorman also linked the flag’s story to Australia’s broader journey. He recalled how the constitution was first carried to London 125 years ago, before a flag had even been chosen.
“Of course, it was a very Australian solution to make it an open competition where anyone could send their designs,” he said.
Remembering the Legacy
The flag has flown in moments of both unity and sacrifice. “In 125 years since Australians travelled to deliver that constitution, more than half a million Australians have served under this flag at home and abroad, in wartime and at peacetime, always representing our foundation,” Gorman said.
He acknowledged Indigenous heritage, noting that the Southern Cross is a symbol under which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived for more than 65,000 years.
Outside Parliament, the Australian National Flag Association is working to keep that history alive.
Its chair, Allan Pidgeon, believes too few Australians know the origins of the design.
“Our flag symbolises Australia in what I think is a pretty perfect way, because it reflects the ‘have a go’ spirit,” he said.
In 1901, around 1 percent of the population entered the competition—38,000 entries in total. Five winners were eventually chosen after six weeks of judging.
“The fact that we held the world’s first ever flag design competition should be part of national folklore, and the five people who won it should be household names,” Pidgeon said.
For him, the day is not only about celebrating a symbol but also about reclaiming a shared story.
“They’ve sort of been airbrushed out of history, so we’re trying to celebrate those five people as well,” he said.
