The Eureka Flag is a design which features: a dark blue field 260 x 400 cm (2:3.08 ratio); a horizontal stripe 37 cm wide and a vertical line crossing it of 36 cm wide; and 5 eight pointed stars, the central star being 65 cm tall (point to point) and the other stars 60 cm tall, representing the Crux Australis constellation.
The design was first used for the war flag of the Eureka Rebellion of 1854 at Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. Rebels swore an oath to the flag as a symbol of defiance at its first flying at Bakery Hill and 22 were killed at the Eureka Stockade defending the original flag (now held at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery).
The flag design has gained wider notability due to its adoption in Australian culture as a symbol of democracy, protest and a wide variety of other causes. It is listed as an object of state heritage significance on the Victorian Heritage Register and was named as a Victorian Icon by the National Trust in 2006.
Read more about Eureka Flag: Symbolism, Notability, and Controversy
Famous quotes containing the word flag:
“Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
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She took up the flag the men hauled down;”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)