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South Australia (Australia)

Last modified: 2005-02-26 by jonathan dixon
Keywords: australia | south australia | blue ensign | aboriginal | britannia | bird | piping shrike | magpie |
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[South Australia Flag]
by Jorge Candeias

See also:

Description of the flag

The South Australian state flag was created as a colonial flag - a British Blue Ensign with the badge of the colony added to the blue field. Upon Federation a simpler design than before was adopted. The 1904 design shows in heraldic form a local bird - what was called a Piping Shrike, a form of magpie. There has been some speculation that the stylisation of the bird was inspired by the Imperial German (and Austrian) heraldic eagle.
Ralph Kelly, 19 September 1999

Flag of 1870

From 1870 to 1876 South Australia used a black badge with stars arranged representing the southern cross and the pointers.
Source: Australian Girl Scouts website (now defunct)
Olivier Touzeau, 13 January 2001

Flag of 1876

[1876 South Australia]
by Željko Heimer

From 1876 to 1904 South Australia used a different badge from the one now on its flag. It represented Britannia talking to an aborigine. South Australia also used the red ensign with the same badge from 1876 to 1901 as civil ensign. Source: R.D. Kelly, Australian State Flags (1865-1904): A British Admiralty Legacy, report of the XIII ICV, Melbourne, 1989.
Mario Fabretto, 06 July 1997

State Governor

South Australia State Governor still used the defaced Union Flag. It changed to a defaced Blue Ensign in 1976. I don't know what the ensign defacements are.
David Prothero, 24 February 1997

The South Australian Governor was the first of the Australian State Governors to change their flag to a slight variation of the State Flag, with the addition of the St. Edward's Crown above the fly badge on 18 September 1975.
Ralph Bartlett, 4 August 2004

See also: State Governors' flags