geography Archives - Page 27 of 37

Azerbaijan

Flags / asia, CIS Members, flags, geography, history

The flag of Azerbaijan is a horizontal tricolour featuring three equally sized fesses of blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star in the center. The tricolour replaced an earlier design used by the Azerbaijan SSR. The blue symbolizes Azerbaijan’s Turkic heritage, the red stands for progress, and the green represents Islam. The official colors and size were adopted on 5 February 1991. This flag was used from 9 November 1918 to 1920, when Azerbaijan was independent, and it was revived with slight variations on 5 February 1991. The nickname for the flag is Üçrəngli Bayraq, which means The Tricolour Flag.

The sky blue symbolizes Turkic Multinationalism, the red is for the progress to establish a modern state and the development of democracy, and green shows the nation’s relation to the Muslim world.

While the crescent and star are typically seen as markers of Islam, some historians and researchers disagree about why an eight-pointed star is used on the flag of Azerbaijan. Fatali Khan Khoyski points to the eight letters in the word “Azerbaijan” as written in Arabic. The eight points of the star are also thought to stand for the eight Turkic peoples of Azerbaijan. The problem is there are only seven Turkic peoples: Azeris, Ottomans, Jagatais, Tatars, Kipchaks, Selijuks, and Turkomans. It’s possible the Kipchaks actually reflect two peoples, the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, which would make eight. The classification of Turkic peoples pre-Soviet era was different from what it is today.

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Austria

Flags / europe, flags, geography, history

The flag of Austria has three equal horizontal bands of red, white, and red. The Austrian triband is based on the coat of arms of the Babenberg dynasty, recorded in the 13th century. It may have seen use in flags from about the 15th century, alongside the black-and-yellow colors of the House of Habsburg and other insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. It was adopted as a naval ensign in the 18th century, and as national flag in 1918.

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Torres Straits Islands

Flags / Australia, Australian Territories, flags, geography, history, islands

The Torres Strait Islander Flag is an official flag of Australia, and is the flag that represents Torres Strait Islander people. It was designed in 1992 by Bernard Namok. It won a local competition held by the Islands Coordinating Council, and was recognised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in June 1992.

The Government of Australia granted it Flag of Australia status, under the Flags Act 1953 (Cth), by proclamation on 14 July 1995.

In the 2008 proclamation, the flag “is recognised as the flag of the Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and a flag of significance to the Australian nation generally” and appointed “to be the flag of the Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and to be known as the Torres Strait Islander Flag”. The design is reproduced in Schedule 1 and described in Schedule 2.

The green panels at the top and the bottom of the flag symbolise the land, while the blue panel in the centre represents the waters of the Torres Strait. The thin black stripes between the green and blue panels signify the Torres Strait Islanders themselves. The white five-pointed star at the centre of the flag represents the five major island groups—the Western, Eastern, Central, Port Kennedy and (N.P.A.) Mainland—and the white dhari (dancer’s headdress) around it also symbolises the Torres Strait Islands people. White symbolises peace, while the star is a symbol for navigation.

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Northern Territory

Flags / Australia, Australian States, flags, geography, history

The current state flag of the Northern Territory was officially adopted by the Northern Territory, Australia, in 1978. The Northern Territory has been in existence since 1911, but did not hoist its first flag until self-government in 1978.

The flag of the Northern Territory was officially acknowledged and raised for the first time in a ceremony celebrating self-government, on the esplanade in Darwin, the Territorial capital, on 1 July 1978. The ceremony was further acknowledged by a 19-gun salute from HMAS Derwent. As the Northern Territory never had colonial status or a prior flag, it was decided that an original design would be created. The flag was designed by Robert Ingpen, a prominent artist originally from Drysdale, Victoria. Ingpen used a number of designs suggested by the public as a basis for his final design.

The flag differs from the flags of the Australian states as it does not include the British Blue Ensign. The flag of the Australian Capital Territory adopted 15 years later is similar in design. The flag’s colours consist of the official Territorian colours of black, white and ochre (making it the only flag among Australia’s states and territories not to feature the colour blue). The Southern Cross appears as five white stars on a black panel at the hoist. In the fly of the flag is a stylised Sturt’s Desert Rose, the territory’s floral emblem since 1961, with seven white petals and a black seven-pointed core. The seven white petals represent the six Australian States and the Northern Territory.

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Norfolk Island

Flags / Australia, Australian Territories, flags, geography, history, islands, pacific ocean, Pacific Ocean Islands, political

The flag of Norfolk Island was approved by the Norfolk Island Council on 6 June 1979. It became the official flag on the commencement date of the Norfolk Island Flag and Public Seal Act 1979 on 17 January 1980. The flag depicts the Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) in a central white stripe between two green stripes.

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Lord Howe Island

Flags / Australia, Australian Territories, flags, geography, history, pacific ocean, Pacific Ocean Islands

The Flag of Lord Howe Island is the unofficial flag of the island, an unincorporated area of New South Wales administered by the Lord Howe Island Board. The unofficial flag of Lord Howe Island, which was designed by Sydney-based vexillologist John Vaughan, was first flown in November 1998. The yellow center of the flag evokes the island’s topography and depicts a Kentia palm, while the surrounding area of flag utilizes the pre-1801 Union Jack, excluding the red of St George’s Cross.

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Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Flags / Australia, Australian Territories, flags, geography, history, indian ocean, islands, territories

The flag of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands was created in 2003 and adopted on 6 April 2004.

The flag consists of a green field, with a palm tree on a gold disc in the canton, a gold crescent in the center of the flag and a gold southern cross in the fly. The palm tree represents the islands’ tropical flora; the colors are Australia’s national colors; the crescent represents Islam, the religion of the Cocos Malays who make up a majority of the population; and the Southern Cross is a symbol of Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.

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Christmas Island

Flags / Australia, Australian Territories, flags, geography, history, indian ocean, islands, territories

The flag of Christmas Island was unofficially adopted in 1986 after being chosen the winner in a competition for a flag for the territory. It was designed by Tony Couch of Sydney, Australia. The flag was made official on Australia Day, 2002 when the administrator of the territory, Bill Taylor, presented the flag to the Christmas Island Shire.

The flag of Christmas Island consists of a green and blue background, split the top left corner to the bottom right. These colours are intended to represent the land and sea respectively. The Southern Cross constellation appears in the bottom left of the flag in the same manner as it appears on the flag of Australia. In the top right, the golden bosun bird (Phaethon lepturus fulvus, one of six races of the white-tailed tropicbird) appears. It is considered to be a symbol of the Island. The last motif appears in the centre of the flag on a golden disc is the map of the island in green. The disc itself was originally only included to offset the green colour of the map, but has become linked to the mining industry.

In 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly announced a competition to design both a flag and a coat of arms for the territory. There was a prize fund of $100, and some 69 entries were submitted. The winning submission was created by Tony Couch, a resident of Sydney but who had previously worked on Christmas Island. The new flag was announced on April 14, 1986 by the Christmas Island Assembly.

The first attempt to make the flag official occurred in 1995 when the Minister of the Islands at the time took the view that implementation could take place on Australia Day 1996 via a formal announcement by the Administrator rather than an amendment to the Christmas Island Act 1958. Although this was agreed, the declaration never took place.

Subsequently, Christmas Island official Gary Dunt revived the issue in 2001 and the flag was formally declared the official flag of Christmas Island on Australia Day 2002 (January 26), by the administrator of the territory, Bill Taylor. Councillor Mariam Kawi accepted the flag as a representative of the Shire of Christmas Island.

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Australian Capital Territory

Flags / Australia, flags, geography, history, pacific ocean, territories

The current flag of the Australian Capital Territory was officially adopted by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in 1993.

The flag differs from the Australian state flags as it is not a modified (technically defaced) British Blue Ensign. It is similar in design to the flag of the Northern Territory. The flag uses the Canberra city colours of blue and gold (which also happen to be the heraldic colours of Australia). The Southern Cross appears as five white stars on a blue panel at the hoist, whilst in the centre of the goldfield in the fly is the modified coat of arms of the Australian Capital Territory. The flag was designed by Ivo Ostyn.

Even though the Australian Capital Territory has existed since 1909 and was given self-government in 1989, it had never had a flag of its own. Consequently, the government decided that the Territory should adopt a flag. In 1988 and 1992 competitions for a proposed new flag were held, in which artists and residents of the ACT could put forth their designs for the new flag. Subsequently, the current flag won the competition. The ACT Legislative Assembly then officially adopted this flag in 1993.

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Western Australia

Flags / Australia, Australian States, flags, geography, history, islands, states

The current state flag of Western Australia was officially adopted by the government of Western Australia in 1953.

The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge is a gold disc with a native black swan, the swan is facing towards the hoist. The black swan has long been a symbol of Western Australia. The original colony was called the Swan River Colony at the location which is now Perth.

The first flag of Western Australia was adopted in 1870 and is almost identical to the current flag of Western Australia. The only difference is that the swan was facing the opposite direction towards the fly rather than towards the hoist. The direction of the swan was changed to conform to the vexillological guideline that animals on flags must face the hoist, so when carried on a pole, the animal faces the same direction of the bearer.

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