Melbourne Airport is the major domestic and international gateway for the state. Avalon Airport is the state’s second busiest airport, which complements Essendon and Moorabbin Airports to see the remainder of Melbourne’s air traffic. Hamilton Airport, Mildura Airport, Mount Hotham and Portland Airport are the remaining airports with scheduled domestic flights. There are no fewer than 27 other airports in the state with no scheduled flights.
The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerized and general cargo in Australia, and is located in Melbourne on the mouth of the Yarra River, which is at the head of Port Phillip. Additional seaports are at Westernport, Geelong, and Portland.
Flag of Victoria:
The flag of Victoria, symbolizing the state of Victoria in Australia, is a British Blue Ensign defaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly. The badge is the Southern Cross topped by an imperial crown, which is currently the St Edward’s Crown. The stars of the Southern Cross are white and range from five to eight points with each star having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The flag dates from 1870, with minor variations, the last of which was in 1953. It is the only Australian state flag not to feature the state badge on a round disk.
The first flag of Victoria was adopted in 1870 and was first flown from HMVS Nelson on 9 February 1870.
It too was a defaced British Blue Ensign with the Southern Cross located in the fly. The stars of the Southern Cross were white and had 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 points with only the leftmost and rightmost stars having one point pointing to the top of the flag. The adoption of the flag came about when Victoria became the first Australian colony to acquire a warship, and thus under the British Colonial Naval Defence Act of 1865 Victoria needed a flag to distinguish its ships from other British ships.
Victoria then adopted the current flag in 1877 with the stars of the southern cross from then on having 5, 6, 7, 7 and 8 points.
The depictions of the crown have varied in accordance with heraldic fashion and the wishes of the monarch of the time. During Queen Victoria’s reign, the crown had slightly dipped arches.
From c. 1901–1952, during the reigns of Kings Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI the depiction of the crown known as the “Tudor Crown“, with domed arches, was used.
In 1953 the Tudor Crown was replaced with the St Edward’s Crown.