It's called the Southern Cross, a small but beautiful constellation located in the southern sky, very close to the neighboring constellation of Centaurus. Originally known by the Latin name Crux, which is due to its cross shape, this constellation is one of the easiest to identify in the night sky.
Designed by the Confederate politician William Porcher Miles, the flag was rejected for use as the Confederacy's official emblem, although it was incorporated into the two later flags as a canton. It only came to be the flag most prominently associated with the Confederacy after the South lost the war. 2.
The Union Jack reflects New Zealand's origins as a British colony. The Southern Cross constellation is one of the striking features of the Southern Hemisphere sky, and has been used to represent New Zealand, among other Southern Hemisphere colonies, since the early days of European settlement.
The Southern Cross tattoo has come under fire ever since it played a starring role in the Cronulla riots back in 2005. “Just because someone has a Southern Cross tattoo doesn't mean they are racist,” he told The Guardian. Indeed, there are quite a few people who got the tattoo to express pride in their country.
The flag of the Ballarat Reform League, the Southern Cross, now more commonly known as the Eureka flag, was first flown at a Monster Meeting of around 12,000 people held on 29th November 1854 at Bakery Hill.
The flag of China was officially adopted on October 1, 1949. The red of the Chinese flag symbolizes the communist revolution, and it's also the traditional color of the people. The large gold star represents communism, while the four smaller stars represent the social classes of the people.
The Stars. The Commonwealth Star is the emblem of Australian Federation. Six points represent the states and the seventh all the federal territories which together constitute the nation, the Commonwealth of Australia. The constellation of the Southern Cross indicates our geographical location in the southern hemisphere
National flags do change over time, usually reflecting a major change in the country's constitutional arrangements or government. Advocates of change in Australia believe that another flag design would be more effective in representing Australia than the current flag.
"The Southern Cross became a symbol for the miners on the goldfield of their independence," says Michael Evans, the Manager of Visitor Experience at the Museum of Australian Democracy. "They put the five stars on their flag that symbolised their rebellion and which they swore an oath of allegiance to."
Long history
In 1516 the stars were first described as a cross, and they were recognised as a separate constellation early in the 17th century. Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm flew a plane named the Southern Cross on a record-breaking Trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia in 1928.Australia. The best location to view the stars is Coonabarabran, home to the Anglo Australian Observatory. The stars appear on flags of Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory. It is also the subject to countless local poems, songs, and speeches.
Bottom line: Acrux, also called Alpha Crucis, is the brightest star in the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross.
There are three ways to locate due south using the Southern Cross: 1. Draw an imaginary line from the top of the cross to the bottom and extend it 4.5 times. Drop a vertical line from this point, which is the South Celestial Pole (SCP), to the horizon – that place is due south.
The first step is to identify the Southern Cross – it is a compact group of bright stars close together in the sky with the two Pointer stars always pointing to them from nearby. Then extend the main axis of the Cross from and in the direction of its brightest star by four and a half times its length.
Interestingly, the Southern Cross has been depicted on the flags of several different antipodean countries. Crux can be found on the national flags of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Brazil.
For Southern Hemisphere dwellers who want to see the Big Dipper, you must go north of latitude 25 degrees South to see it in its entirety. Across the northern half of Australia, for instance, you can now just see the upside-down Dipper virtually scraping the northern horizon about an hour or two after sundown.
Of the 193 UN member countries, 28 have a cross on their flags. Apart from these, other 4 constituent countries – Scotland, England, Faroe Islands, and Vatican City(UN observer state) also have a cross on their flags.
Its official name is the union flag, but the BBC refers to it as the union jack, as per common parlance.
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. There are other official flags representing Australia, its people and core functions of government.
The Southern Hemisphere includes most of South America, one-third of Africa, all of Antarctica, a small sliver of Asia (parts of Indonesia) and all of Australia/Oceania.
A dark blue cross outlined in white on a light blue field with the Union Jack in the canton and the shield from the Fijian coat of arms superimposed over the right arm of the cross. The national flag of Fiji (Fijian: kuila mai Viti) was adopted on 10 October 1970.
The Football Federation of Australia claimed that the ban was "unintentional". The ship also occasionally flies the Eureka Flag from its mainstay alongside the Australian White Ensign.
The flag of Finland is white with a blue cross extending to the flag's sides, and the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the left (the style of a Scandinavian Cross). This flag is Finland's national flag, first adopted in 1918.
As with many former British colonies it was at first represented simply by the Union Jack until it was officially established as a colony. The Australian flag contains the Union Jack on the top left corner of its flag as it was once a British colony, dominion and continues to be part of the commonwealth.
Australia's flag will never change, Malcolm Turnbull has said, dismissing a new design that drops the Union Jack. The not-for-profit group Ausflag released a new design on Friday, telling Australia it was time to “grow up” and shed symbols of British dominance.
The Stars. The Commonwealth Star is the emblem of Australian Federation. Six points represent the states and the seventh all the federal territories which together constitute the nation, the Commonwealth of Australia. The constellation of the Southern Cross indicates our geographical location in the southern hemisphere
The New Zealand flag is 50 years older than Australia's and was adopted in 1902, replacing the union jack. The Australian flag was adopted in 1954, after going through three previous iterations since 1901.
Both Australia and New Zealand have one thing common in their flags and that is the Union Jack. Moreover, the Union Jack is in the UK flag too. This makes all three flags a bit similar. The reason behind this is that both New Zealand and Australia were once British colonies.
The Union Flag, or Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. It is so called because it combines the crosses of the three countries united under one Sovereign - the kingdoms of England and Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland (although since 1921 only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom).
Most Australians fought under the Union Jack in World War I. Most Australians fought under either the Australian Red Ensign or the Union Jack in World War II. All Australian Naval personnel fought under the British Naval Ensign in both world wars.
