If I called you a 'vexillologist' would you feel insulted?
No need for that, what I have done is labelled you an expert in flags, whether they are national, historical, nautical, corporate or personal.
One of the world's leading vexillologists is Sydney-based John C. Vaughan, CEO of Australiana Flags and an acknowledged expert on the traditions and etiquette surrounding all manner of flags and flagpoles.
He is called on regularly by various government and private bodies to advise on matter relating to flag design.
John Vaughan provided valuable assistance to me 21-years ago when I first wrote a piece on the 'wearing' of flags aboard recreational vessels.
As promised last week in Part I, we look over the fascinating background to the Australian flag as we know it today.
In reality, it can be traced back to H.M Endeavour and the First Fleet, when the colours worn comprised the Red Ensign featuring the crosses of Saint George and Saint Andrew.
In 1864, England adopted the White Ensign bearing the red cross of Saint George and this became the sole colours for ships of the Royal Navy.
The Royal Australian Navy also adopted this flag from its formation in 1911 until 1967 when a distinctively Australian White Ensign, featuring the Australian Southern Cross design, but on a white background, was adopted.
It remains the official RAN flag and may not be worn by any other vessels.
During the early days of what was then an 'infant colony', the vast majority of flags seen in Australia were of British origin.
Several individuals 'played around' with various designs in an attempt to come up with a uniquely Australian flag, but it was not until 1901 and the Federation of Australia that we became serious about creating an Australian flag.
An official Commonwealth Government competition calling for flag designs attracted 32,832 entries.
Two designs were called for; one to be for government use, the other for merchant shipping services.
Sir Edmund Barton, Australia's first Primer Minister, announced the winners of the competition on September 3, 1901.
The winners were Ivor Evans, a 14-year-old Melbourne schoolboy, Leslie John Dawkins, a Sydney teenager serving an apprenticeship in optometry, E.J. Nuttall, a Melbourne architect, Annie Dorrington, a Perth-based artist and William Stevens, a ship's officer from New Zealand.
Their design featured the crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick, a Commonwealth Star of six points representing the states and the Southern Cross, showing the brightness of the stars in the constellation with star Alpha having nine points and, in an anti-clockwise direction the other stars having eight, seven, six and five points.
In February, 1903, the Commonwealth Gazette announced that King Edward VII approved the design.
For several years, the fact that Australia had both the Red Ensign and the Blue Ensign led to some confusion.
Initially, the Red was only for use at sea, the Blue for use on land.
Wearing the Blue Ensign on board a ship, even a recreational vessel, was seen as very incorrect.
However, the 1981 Shipping Registration Act finally covered the correct usage of the Australian flags; as I pointed out last week, recreational vessels may fly either the Red or Blue Ensign (but never both), while the Red Ensign is the only one worn by Australian registered merchant vessels.
Wearing the colours is part and parcel of the joys of boating, but as the old saying goes, if you're going to do it, do it correctly.
There are two vital factors which must never be forgotten - aboard the majority of recreational powerboats, that which is known as 'the primary jackstaff' is usually on the centreline at the transom.
It must never be used for any but the Australian Blue or Red Ensign; if such a flag is not on board, that jackstaff stays vacant.
Secondly, remember the Australian Ensign, red or blue, takes absolute precedence over any other flags or colours on board.
In conclusion, the following is a piece related to 'our flag' that I discovered some time ago.
I was told the author is unknown, someone else told me the author was 'an Australian soldier'; I have no idea of its origin, but here it is, make of it what you will.
It's called - Poem to a Glorious Flag-
Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night In our southern skies of blue
And that little old flag in the corner That's part of our heritage too,
It's for the English, the Scots and the Irish Who were sent to the ends of the earth
The rouges and the schemers, the doers and dreamers Who gave modern Australia birth
And you who are seeking to change it, You don't seem to understand
It's the flag of our law and our language Not the flag of a far away land
There are plenty of people who'll tell you That when Europe was plunged into night That little old flag in the corner was the symbol of freedom and light
It does not mean we owe allegiance To a forgotten Imperial dream;
We've the stars to show where we're going And the old flag to show where we've been
It's only an old piece of bunting It's only an old coloured rag
But thousands have died for its honour And fell in defence of our flag.
Boating
