WorldGame94
Senior List
The humble flag: An emblem which depicts the fair morals and rich history of a nation. A flag symbolises a people and gives them a sense of pride. Although most important of all, a flag should be guiding star, which all citizens can turn to good times and in bad, and be a reminder of their freedom. For generations, Australians have dreamed of a flag that would reflect the unique beauty that is Australia. Our flag today does not live up to this dream. Australia's flag today depicts a story of oppression and does not give a sense of identification for the Australian people. As Australian citizens, we need a flag that we can be proud to call our own.
Australia was first settled under British command and so we have been under the watchful eye of the monarchy to this day. What the British failed to discover, more over, ignored, was the presence of the aboriginal people who had been the original custodians of the land for thousands of years. Today there is no acknowledgement of the aboriginal people on our flag at all, yet we can blatantly see the british mark, the Union Jack.
Also when we look closely at the Anglo Australian's today we see that the majority of them are descendants of Irish convicts and settlers. The Irish at the time of Australia's settlement, were conquered by the English monarchy and fought to obtain their own rights in Ireland. This conflict was brought to Australia with the English having full command over the Irish prisoners who had been forced to pay homage to their English oppressors and the Union Jack. It rages me to see that the Union Jack is on our flag today when it was a clear sign of English oppression to the majority of the first white Australian's durring the 1800's.
During the Gold Rush, immigration exploded in Australia with people flocking to Oz from places in Europe, Africa and Asia as well as Great Britain. This time period is significant to Australian history. The famous Eureka Stockade was a presentation of the great Australian fighting spirt. This was fought between two parties. One was the multicultural Australian miners, who fought under the Southern Cross for their rights. The other party was the British government, which fought for money lust and power, under the infamous Union Jack. Having both emblems on our flag is simply contradictory. With the Union Jack on our flag, we are saying that those miners died in vien and that British oppression will always be apparent in Australia.
Over the years, thousands of immigrants from across the globe have called Australia home.
From World War I in 1914, immigration to Australia sky rocketed with over 7.5 million people immigrating from countries like Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, France, Vietnam, Philippines, Korea, Netherlands, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Portugal, Japan, and Spain to name a few. Today there has been an influx of immigration from places like Malta, Turkey, India, Iraq and Indonesia. Today over 27% of the Australian population was born over sea's and almost half of the Australian population are decedents of Non-British backgrounds. This shows that our flag does not accurately represent the huge mix that is Australian culture. As quoted in our national anthem, Australia is made up of many different peoples with different cultural backgrounds but united as one. We must ask ourselves the question: Why have the Union Jack on the Australian national flag when most of its citizens do not have any ties with Great Britain at all?
To be untied as one country we must just change our flag immediately. The Union Jack was once on all Commonwealth countries flags. Today Australia is one of the only developed Commonwealth countries to still have the Union Jack (New Zealand). Countries like Canada and South Africa have moved on and replaced it with something that represented them – not Britain. The Union Jack does not represent the Australian people, it represents the British people. When Australians go to war, they fight for Australian freedom, not because of British obligations. And when Australians are participating on the world stage, we must be led by a flag that we can be proud to call Australian.
Australia was first settled under British command and so we have been under the watchful eye of the monarchy to this day. What the British failed to discover, more over, ignored, was the presence of the aboriginal people who had been the original custodians of the land for thousands of years. Today there is no acknowledgement of the aboriginal people on our flag at all, yet we can blatantly see the british mark, the Union Jack.
Also when we look closely at the Anglo Australian's today we see that the majority of them are descendants of Irish convicts and settlers. The Irish at the time of Australia's settlement, were conquered by the English monarchy and fought to obtain their own rights in Ireland. This conflict was brought to Australia with the English having full command over the Irish prisoners who had been forced to pay homage to their English oppressors and the Union Jack. It rages me to see that the Union Jack is on our flag today when it was a clear sign of English oppression to the majority of the first white Australian's durring the 1800's.
During the Gold Rush, immigration exploded in Australia with people flocking to Oz from places in Europe, Africa and Asia as well as Great Britain. This time period is significant to Australian history. The famous Eureka Stockade was a presentation of the great Australian fighting spirt. This was fought between two parties. One was the multicultural Australian miners, who fought under the Southern Cross for their rights. The other party was the British government, which fought for money lust and power, under the infamous Union Jack. Having both emblems on our flag is simply contradictory. With the Union Jack on our flag, we are saying that those miners died in vien and that British oppression will always be apparent in Australia.
Over the years, thousands of immigrants from across the globe have called Australia home.
From World War I in 1914, immigration to Australia sky rocketed with over 7.5 million people immigrating from countries like Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, France, Vietnam, Philippines, Korea, Netherlands, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Portugal, Japan, and Spain to name a few. Today there has been an influx of immigration from places like Malta, Turkey, India, Iraq and Indonesia. Today over 27% of the Australian population was born over sea's and almost half of the Australian population are decedents of Non-British backgrounds. This shows that our flag does not accurately represent the huge mix that is Australian culture. As quoted in our national anthem, Australia is made up of many different peoples with different cultural backgrounds but united as one. We must ask ourselves the question: Why have the Union Jack on the Australian national flag when most of its citizens do not have any ties with Great Britain at all?
To be untied as one country we must just change our flag immediately. The Union Jack was once on all Commonwealth countries flags. Today Australia is one of the only developed Commonwealth countries to still have the Union Jack (New Zealand). Countries like Canada and South Africa have moved on and replaced it with something that represented them – not Britain. The Union Jack does not represent the Australian people, it represents the British people. When Australians go to war, they fight for Australian freedom, not because of British obligations. And when Australians are participating on the world stage, we must be led by a flag that we can be proud to call Australian.
We are the laughuing stock of the world.
