|
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. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. The flag's original design (with a six-pointed Commonwealth Star) was chosen in 1901 from entries in a competition held following Federation, and was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901,〔(The Australian Flag ) ''The Argus (Melbourne)'' Wednesday 4 September 1901 p.9 accessed 3 September 2011〕 the date proclaimed as Australian National Flag Day.〔Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. S321, 28 August 1996〕 A slightly different design was approved by King Edward VII in 1902. The seven-pointed commonwealth star version was introduced by a proclamation dated 23 February 1908.〔Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 29, 22 May 1909.〕 The dimensions were formally gazetted in 1934,〔Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No 18, 23 March 1934.〕 and in 1954 the flag became recognised by, and legally defined in, the ''Flags Act 1953'', as the "Australian National Flag". There are other official flags representing Australia, its people and core functions of government. ==Devices== Flags of the Union Jack.svg| Southern Cross (Australia Flag.svg| Commonwealth_Star.svg| The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Flag, the Commonwealth Star (also the ''Federation Star'') and the Southern Cross (or ''Crux'').〔''Australian Flags'', pp. 2–3.〕 In its original usage as the flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Union Flag combined three heraldic crosses which represent the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (as constituted in 1801): * The red St George's Cross of England * The white diagonal St Andrew's Cross of Scotland * The red diagonal St Patrick's Cross of Ireland The Union Flag is thought to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based,〔〔Source: Australian Flag Society〕 although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire.〔Evans, I. 1918. ''The history of the Australian flag''. Evan Evans, Melbourne〕 The Commonwealth Star, also known as the Federation Star,〔''Australian Flags'', p. 2.〕 originally had six points, representing the six federating colonies. In 1908, a seventh point was added to symbolise the Papua and any future territories.〔〔''Australian Flags'', p. 41.〕 Another rationale for the change was to match the star used on the Coat of Arms, which was created in the same year. The Commonwealth Star does not have any official relation to Beta Centauri, despite the latter's brightness and location in the sky; however, the 1870 version of the flag of South Australia featured the "pointer" stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.ausflag.com.au/south_australia_1870-1876.asp )〕〔 〕 The Southern Cross is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere,〔 and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement.〔 Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to also refer to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude.〔Kwan, p. 143.〕 The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on the modern Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, in which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky.〔 The stars are named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet, in decreasing order of brightness in the sky.〔''Australian Flags'', p. 3.〕 In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller, more central star with five points. This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903.〔 A complete specification for the official design was published in the ''Commonwealth Gazette'' in 1934.〔''Commonwealth of Australia Gazette'' No. 18, 23 March 1934〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Flag of Australia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|