LONG HISTORY OF FLAG BEARING SOUTHERN CROSS

THANK you for your great column, Karen Matthews (GA 4/8).

I find myself agreeing with most of what you have to say, as do most of my friends when we discuss the topics you address.

I wish to add to your comments about New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his call for Australians to change our glorious national flag.

I had read a few days before that Mr Peters claimed New Zealand had used the image of the Southern Cross on their flag before it was incorporated into the design of the new Australian flag in 1901.

I won’t go through the process for the design of the Australian flag and how it came about — that in itself is a very interesting story.

I want to point out to Mr Peters and anyone else who needs to understand some of the history of the Southern Cross and its use in the design of flags, that the image of the Southern Cross appears on the ‘AntiTransportation League Flag’.

The Anti-Transportation League flew the flag at its first meeting in Melbourne on February 28, 1851. The league was formed to organise protests against the transportation of convicts from Britain to Australia and New Zealand. The flag is a deep blue with the Union Jack in the canton, as it is on the Australian and New Zealand National Flags, and five stars arranged in the pattern of the Southern Cross in gold colour.

When transportation ended in 1853, the League disbanded and it’s flag did not fly again — it is preserved at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston. Love your work, Kaz.

Keith Pettigrew, Leopold