Flags Act 1953
Flags Act 1953 | |
---|---|
Parliament of Australia | |
Long title
| |
Royal assent | 14 February 1954 |
Commenced | 14 April 1954 |
Legislative history | |
Introduced by | Robert Menzies |
Passed | December 1953 |
Amended by | |
Statute Law Revision Act 2008, Flags Amendment Act 1998, Flags Amendment Act 1981, Statute Law Revision Act 1973, Flags Act 1954 | |
Status: Amended |
The Flags Act 1953 is an act of the
History
In the decades following the
In the 1920s there was debate over whether the blue ensign was reserved for Commonwealth buildings only, culminating in a 1924 agreement that the Union Flag should take precedence as the National Flag and that state and local governments were henceforth able to use the blue ensign.[4] A memo from the Prime Minister of Australia's Department dated 6 March 1939 stated: "the Red Ensign is the flag to be flown by the public generally" and the federal government policy was "The flying of the Commonwealth Blue Ensign is reserved for Commonwealth Government use but there is no reservation in the case of the Commonwealth Merchant Flag, or Red Ensign".[5]
In 1940 the Victorian government passed legislation allowing schools to purchase blue ensigns.[6] The following year prime minister Robert Menzies issued a media release recommending that the blue ensign be flown at schools, government buildings and by private citizens and continued use of the red ensign by merchant ships, providing it was done so respectfully.[7] Prime Minister Ben Chifley issued a similar statement in 1947.[8]
On 4 December 1950, Menzies affirmed the Blue ensign as the National flag, and in 1951
When the Flags Bill was introduced into parliament on 20 November 1953, Menzies said: "This bill is very largely a formal measure which puts into legislative form what has become almost the established practice in Australia... The design adopted was submitted to His Majesty
Description of the act
The act specifies the colours and construction details for the Australian National Flag and the
The Act originally contained a serious drafting error in Table A of the Act. The outer diameter of the Commonwealth Star was recorded as being three-eighths of the width of the flag, instead of the true value of three-tenths of the width of the flag. The Act was amended to correct the error in 1954.[citation needed]
Flags Amendment Act 1998
The Flags Amendment Act 1998 was passed after the 1996 Australian federal election, during a period where the republican movement was influential, and both the government and opposition parties were committed to bringing the issue to a head as a matter of policy. The Flags Amendment Act 1998 added to section 3 of the Flags Act and provided that the present Australian National Flag could only be replaced if a majority of State and Territory electors qualified to vote for the House of Representatives agree. It was promoted by its supporters as "ensuring a degree of protection for"[12] and "the first substantive parliamentary steps towards defining a process for the change of"[13] the Australian National Flag.
Parliamentary debate
During parliamentary debate in the House of Representatives over the Flags Amendment Bill 1996,
Australian Flag Society proposal
Following the 1998 amendment, Australian Flag Society proposed a National Language, Holiday and Flag Bill, as the way forward in response to a petition of certain citizens calling for a parliamentary committee to review the Flags Act 1953.[15][16][17] It proposes to amend the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (IMP) by way of modifiable provisions declaring, among other things, the existing flag to be the Australian National Flag.[citation needed]
Under the proposed legislative and constitutional refinements, it is envisaged that the Flags Act would remain on the statute books, to provide the construction sheet for the Australian National Flag which would be described in terms of its essential elements in the constitution, thereby settling the question of
References
- ^ Elizabeth Kwan, Flag and Nation, University of New South Wales press, 2006, p. 106.
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN FLAGS". www.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ Kwan, 2006, p. 9-10.
- ^ Kwan, 2006, p. 100, 106.
- ^ National Archives of Australia (NAA: A461, A336/1/1 Part 2).
- ^ Kwan, 2006, p. 92.
- ^ Kwan, 2006, p. 92.
- ^ Kwan, 2006, pp.96–97
- ^ Australian flags. Australia. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Awards and Culture Branch. (3rd ed.). Barton ACT: Dept. of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2006. p. 44.
- ^ Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 20 November 1953, 367, (Bob Menzies).
- ^ "Flags Act 1953". Parliament of Australia. 11 July 2008.
- ^ 1998 ANFA newsletter
- ^ "Government accepts Ausflag advice".
- ^ "Parliamentary Debates 22 August 1996 Laurie Ferguson".
- ^ "National Language, Holiday and Flag Bill". Australian Flag Society. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Australian Flag Society responds to Ray Martin". Australian Conservative. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^ "Australians for Constitutional Monarchy".
- ^ "Government accepts Ausflag advice".
- ^ "Government to Preserve Flag in Aspic".
- ^ "AusFlag: Reply to Ausflag's Letter to the Prime Minister".
- ^ "AusFlag: An Open Letter to the Prime Minister".
External links
- Flags Act 1953 (Series) on the Federal Register of Legislation
- Original Flags Act 1953, National Archives of Australia
- Flags Amendment Bill 1996 26 June 1996, House of Representatives . (Passed as Flags Amendment Act 1998, but since superseded)