Today, September 3, is Australian National Flag Day.
Proclaimed as a national day in 1996, it’s a celebration of the first time our flag was flown on September 3, 1901, at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which was the site of Australia’s first Parliament.
It was on that day that Prime Minister Edmund Barton announced the winners of a competition to design a flag for Australia.
The competition was announced by Sir Edmund in 1901, attracting 32,823 entries.
From them, five nearly identical designs were awarded equal first prize, sharing in £200.
The winners were Annie Dorrington from Perth, an artist who became known for her wildflower paintings and water colours; Ivor Evans, a 14-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne whose father owned a flag-making business; Leslie Hawkins, from Leichhardt in NSW, who was a teenager apprenticed to a Sydney optician at the time of the competition; Egbert Nuttall, who was an architect with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works; and William Stevens, who was a First Officer in the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand.
Today is also Merchant Navy Day – the day we remember the service and sacrifice of thousands of Australia’s merchant mariners during wartime operations.
All Australians are encouraged to fly or display the Australian National Flag to celebrate Australian National Flag Day.
Fly our flag, and fly it with pride!
