Some Prominent Elders of Australia’s traditional owners believe that our national Australian flag disrespect’s their people, but a change to our flag may also disrespect the soldiers who have fought for our country. We’ve romanticised the Australian flag for many years, is it time to take off those rose coloured glasses and see it for what it really is? The Australian flag was inherited from the British in 1901 leading to the act that it doesn’t represent the traditional owners of our land we live on today. On our current flag the union jack represents the British empire, the southern cross represents the southern hemisphere these two things do not represent Australia individually, however the six points of the federation star represent the six original states of Australia and the seventh star represents the territories and any future states of Australia. Currently there are approximately 5 national flags that have the southern cross situated on them including the Australian flag. Even the brits themselves believe the flag should be changed. ‘Barmy Army’ once said “get your stars of our flag” …show more content…
It could disrespect and dishonour the soldiers who fought for our country and died in, World Wars 1 and 2 and the Vietnam war, underneath the Australian flag with the blue ensign. If we ditch the Union Jack, we could also be forgetting all of the convicts who came to settle in Australia for a better life. If the flag is changed it has nearly 120 years of history behind it, if a new one is created It will take another 120 years for it to be as precious as our current flag which is why the flag is also icon and know by many
I do dislike what the confederate flag stands for, but I do see the need to allow for it to stay. Now as I said before I do not support what the flag means, but I do support the first amendment that guarantees freedom of speech. Banning the confederate flag would be an instance of censorship that would set a dangerous precedence. You set the precedence that anything that is found offensive can be banned. You allow for censorship to ban your freedom of speech because some found it offensive. I always quote the great philosopher known as Voltaire when situations such as these arrive. “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” Now weather the state chooses to remove the flag from public property
The Australian flag is well overdue for a change. The current flag is outdated and the Southern Cross and the Union Jack are no longer relevant or unique to Australia. The present Australian flag also fails to be instantly recognisable, confusing foreigners, as it is too similar to many other countries. Yet, for me, the most important reason the flag needs changing is to represent Aboriginal Australia and to encourage Aboriginal Reconciliation, by creating a flag that incorporates Aboriginal elements and our native history. By doing this we would be representing all Australians. Clearly, the Australian flag should be
So why get rid of this flag? Being a nation that prohibits slavery in written law, some Americans who continue to believe the false rumor that the flag represents slavery and racism or are less educated with the history behind the flag and want to get rid of it. Our society has represented the Confederate flag in a disrespectful manner and needs to change that.
The Anzac legend is still relevant in today’s society as it reminds Australians and New Zealands of the sacrifice they made to protect our country and let us live in freedom. The legend defines our national identity and helps shape our national reputation so that other countries can look at us as and think of us as a country who are determined, brave, resilient and helps our mates when they are in trouble. Almost a whole generation of young men was lost and they deserved to be remembered. The soldiers continued to fight during challenging times and when they felt as though it was too hard and should give up. They slept in wet and dirty clothes and barely had enough food to survive. Australia wouldn’t be Australia without the legend of the soldiers who sacrificed themselves for us.
There are many diverse interpretations of the words “Australian Identity”. The national anthem, as evidenced in Stand Up, is a primarily white interpretation of Australia and the Australian identity, with many of the lines ignoring the Indigenous people of Australia (Perkins et al, 2012). Another form of the “Australian Identity” was one presented by Prime Minister Paul Keating in his Redfern Address in 1992. He proclaimed that “Australia is a first-rate social democracy…truly the land of the fair go and the better chance”. This idea presented represents an egalitarian society, where every single human has an equal opportunity at life. Yet another, shown in the songs Paul Kelly sang, but especially in “this land is mine” is the difference between the identity of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians (Kelly et al, 2001). Each of these texts addressed a major issue. Stand Up compared the relative value of tradition and the right to freedom of expression. Keating’s speech expressed the need for justice and recognition of both the stolen generation and the injustices done to the Indigenous people as a whole. Kelly’s songs represent the importance of the land to Indigenous people and why the “returning of the land” is so important. Although they each mentioned a major issue, the texts all gave solutions to these issues, from reiterating the importance of the basic human right of freedom of speech in Stand Up, to explaining the role and qualities of the Aboriginal
Yes, the confederate flag shown in the public properties should be banned because they Symbolizes racism and inequality for many of the people basically in the north. To most of the people it symbolizes the time of slavery which was acceptable at the time. And there is no real purpose of showing it on these properties.
The australian flag is a symbol of pride to all soldiers, especially the anzacs. War Veterans have gone through an absurd level of stress and fear to keep austrailia represented by the austrailian flag. If we were to change the design of our flag we would be dishonouring the 102,825 austrailans that died under this flag, the countless number of aussies that served under our flag and there traumitised families. If you had just spent two years serving your country and the rest of your life
The article by Sarrah le Marquand, ‘Apathy wins flag debate’ appears in the tabloid of The Advertiser (February 2, 2013), and online at ‘The Punch: Australia’s best conversation’, under a different title, ‘Flagging This Change is not unAustralian’. This political opinion is to remove the Union Jack from the Australian flag. This is an important topic, as National flag’s construct symbolic meaning, identity and “pride” of country (Fozdar, Spittles & Harlety, 2014, p. 2). As a political writer, Sarrah le Marquand's career has been in the entertainment industry, soap operas, for The Daily Telegraph, for film and as an editor for columnist features’ (News Limited, 2014).
The confederate flag caused a lot of trouble in the past and it might bring trouble now, It can start a small civil war. The confederate flag was always considered as a racist, hate, and offensive to blacks. After the civil war the south got back with the north but they still treated the black people like slaves in a different way and it is against the Emancipation Proclamation. These are the reasons why the confederate flag should not be flown in the
This flag has already caused a lot of trouble, a woman went up the flagpole in front of the South Carolina Statehouse, even before it was removed. And it is thought that the shooting in Charleston Emanuel Church,was provoked by the controversy over the flag that has been living in our community for years. Nevertheless President Obama congratulated Haley and South Carolina on twitter stating “South Carolina takes down the Confederate flag - a signal of good will and healing, and a meaningful step towards a better future.” This may seem irrelevant, but after all President Obama is African American, and this flag had a significant touch of their past. This removal was a another step towards the end of racism in the United
The first official confederate flag was made in 1861 for use of the Confederate states. The main reason for the southern states seceding at the time was because of how they wanted to keep slavery. The flag has started to become popular as a symbol of hate and racism in the modern day. This type of thing should not be aloud to be flown in public buildings and should be kept out of schools.
The confederate flag. This flag has been a part of history for such a long time. So, is it really time to let go of the past and remove it all together? The confederate flag was actually a battle flag carried by rebel soldiers during the civil war so the flag wouldn’t be mistaken for the Union Flag. The removal of this flag is important to us as citizens of the United States because it shows we are finally letting go of the past and moving onto bigger and better things.
The Star - Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key as he watched his fellow Americans stand strong in their darkest hour. For over twenty four hours Fort McHenry was bombarded by British Navy, but the American troops fought, and so did their families. The Americans rallied around the singular flag that stood high in the fort, and a flag that was a target for the British armada. They planned to destroy the flag to disrupt moral, but the Americans refused to let it fall. They used that singular flag as motivation, and motivation that eventually won them the battle. The flag still holds the same purpose today. To remember those who have fought, or are currently fighting in our armies. It also serves as a source of pride, motivation, and patriotism towards our country. Knowing what our flag means to our history and our country, we can’t possibly keep letting our countries source of pride be disrespected by those attempting to promote their own cause. Are nations athletes that choose to display their displeasure with our nation’s current state, and disrespect what our flag means for our country.
The Reconciliation Flag, designed by Brendan Jones in 1995, is arguably the best flag design to represent both Australia’s British and Aboriginal heritage. The flag design contains the Southern Cross, a boomerang and the seven-pointed Commonwealth star. It was designed with the intention of reconciling with the Aboriginal people. A majority of Australians believe a new flag is necessary to replace our current flag that has been serving our country for over 100 years. The Australian flag is an iconic symbol, unique to Australia. It is something that represents the whole of Australia – as a nation. When foreigners look at our flag, we want them to view Australia as a place of justice – where everyone is equal. Therefore, it is only imperative
Australia has always been centered around diversity and change, specifically with the vast multiculturalism and migrant culture throughout the nation. The specifics of Identity hold an important role in shaping our identity as students and as a nation. Australians pride themselves on being a land of the free and full of diverse culture. This is specifically referred to in our national Anthem; “For those who've come across the seas, We've boundless plains to share; With courage let us all combine,”(McCormick, 1984). Displaying Australia’s open attitude towards immigrants and contributes to the diversity present within our society today. Even before this, much of Australia’s Identity was associated with caucasian culture (Originating from British Settlers). Which is the dominant perception of Australia through the media with australian representation being present through the stereotypes of Bogans, which was made popular through shows like Kath and Kim (ABC, 2007). Also, represented through the popular depiction of Australian people - the bushman made popular by movies like Crocodile Dundee (Faiman, 1986) and through famous real life bushman; Steve Irwin. An important aspect of Australian identity which is consistently neglected is the culture and representation of the initial owners of the land; the aboriginal people. Throughout history the constant mistreatment and neglect of the indigenous, has lead to a massive gap in privilege between the aboriginal people and our