It was actually first flown on 3 September 1901, but today is the date of its approval by the King in 1903.
The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901. Shortly after this, in April of that year, the Commonwealth Government announced a Federal Flag design competition.
Taking over an existing competition, there were 32,823 entries , and most featured the Union Jack, the Southern Cross, or native animals. Contrary to suggestions, it was never a condition that the Flag include the Union Jack.
Five almost identical entries were selected to share the 200 pound prize. The entries belonged to Ivor Evans, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne; Leslie John Hawkins, a teenager apprenticed to an optician from Sydney; Egbert John Nuttall, an architect from Melbourne; Annie Dorrington, an artist from Perth; and William Stevens, a ship’s officer from Auckland, New Zealand.
The first design of the flag was very similar to the current design, with differences being that the Federation Star, also known as the Commonwealth Star, had six points instead of seven, while the Southern Cross stars had between five and nine points according to their brightness in the night sky. Originally, the blue field was reserved for Government use only, so the main background of the flag was red.
The new Australian flag flew for the first time from the top of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne in September 1901, well before it was formally approved by the Imperial Authorities in England. The Australian Government was formally notified that the flag had been approved by King Edward VII late in 1902, and this approval was officially Gazetted on 20 February 1903.
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