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| During the battle of the Eureka Stockade on ], ], Henry Ross was mortally wounded near the flagpole and the Eureka flag was torn down, trampled, hacked with sabres and peppered with bullets. It ended up in the possession of Trooper John King, and the King family kept the flag for forty years, until it was loaned to the Ballarat Art Gallery in 1895, where it remained in continued obscurity "under a cloud of scepticism and conservative disapproval". The flag was "re-discovered" by Len Fox during the 1930s, but it took decades to convince authorities to properly authenticate the flag. The final irrefutable validation of its authentication occurred when sketchbooks of Canadian ] were put up for sale at a Christies auction in 1996. Two sketches in particular show the flag design as contained in the tattered remains of the flag at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. The remnant of the original Eureka Flag remains today, preserved for public display in ] Fine Art Gallery, along with Doudiet's sketches. | During the battle of the Eureka Stockade on ], ], Henry Ross was mortally wounded near the flagpole and the Eureka flag was torn down, trampled, hacked with sabres and peppered with bullets. It ended up in the possession of Trooper John King, and the King family kept the flag for forty years, until it was loaned to the Ballarat Art Gallery in 1895, where it remained in continued obscurity "under a cloud of scepticism and conservative disapproval". The flag was "re-discovered" by Len Fox during the 1930s, but it took decades to convince authorities to properly authenticate the flag. The final irrefutable validation of its authentication occurred when sketchbooks of Canadian ] were put up for sale at a Christies auction in 1996. Two sketches in particular show the flag design as contained in the tattered remains of the flag at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. The remnant of the original Eureka Flag remains today, preserved for public display in ] Fine Art Gallery, along with Doudiet's sketches. | ||
| ⚫ | In 2001 legal ownership of the flag was transferred to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery who expect the King family and the gallery to be acknowledged every time a replica of the original flag is displayed. | ||
| ==Current Status== | ==Current Status== | ||
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| The Eureka Flag design is regularly put forward as a candidate to replace the ]. While some Australians consider it a symbol of nationality, the essence of the Eureka flag for most people is a general purpose symbol of protest used by political radicals for a wide variety of non-conformist causes. | The Eureka Flag design is regularly put forward as a candidate to replace the ]. While some Australians consider it a symbol of nationality, the essence of the Eureka flag for most people is a general purpose symbol of protest used by political radicals for a wide variety of non-conformist causes. | ||
| ==Ownership== | |||
| The ownership of the original 1854 Eureka flag continues to be the source of heated argument and litigation. | |||
| The original specimen was torn down at the stockade by Police Constable John King on the morning the clash between the demonstrators and the authorities took place. What was left of the flag remained in the possession of the King family who loaned it to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in 1895. | |||
| ⚫ | In 2001 legal ownership of the flag was transferred to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery who expect the King family and the gallery to be acknowledged every time a replica of the original flag is displayed. | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 09:45, 17 October 2006
The Eureka Flag is an Australian flag which has no official status, but which is used by a wide range of groups.
Background
The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time on Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia as a symbol of the resistance of the gold miners during the Eureka Stockade rebellion. Beneath this flag, Peter Lalor, leader of the Ballarat Reform League, and the aggrieved miners swore this oath: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties." According to the Ballarat Times, at "about eleven o'clock the 'Southern Cross' was hoisted, and its maiden appearance was a fascinating object to behold. The flag is silk, blue ground with large silver cross; no device or arms, but all exceedingly chaste and natural."
The design of the flag, representative of the Southern Cross which also appears on the official flag of Australia, was taken by Captain Henry Ross, one of Eureka's miners and a Canadian expatriate, to three women, Anastasia Withers, Anne Duke and Elizabeth Hayes, to sew up in time for the monster meeting at Bakery Hill at 2.00pm on Wednesday the 29 November, 1854. There is no evidence on who exactly designed the flag, although Ross was known on the diggings as the 'bridegroom' of the miners flag. This flag bears a striking but coincidental resemblance to the Fleurdelisé, Québec's provincial flag, which was not to appear until nearly a hundred years later.
During the battle of the Eureka Stockade on December 3, 1854, Henry Ross was mortally wounded near the flagpole and the Eureka flag was torn down, trampled, hacked with sabres and peppered with bullets. It ended up in the possession of Trooper John King, and the King family kept the flag for forty years, until it was loaned to the Ballarat Art Gallery in 1895, where it remained in continued obscurity "under a cloud of scepticism and conservative disapproval". The flag was "re-discovered" by Len Fox during the 1930s, but it took decades to convince authorities to properly authenticate the flag. The final irrefutable validation of its authentication occurred when sketchbooks of Canadian Charles Doudiet were put up for sale at a Christies auction in 1996. Two sketches in particular show the flag design as contained in the tattered remains of the flag at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. The remnant of the original Eureka Flag remains today, preserved for public display in Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, along with Doudiet's sketches.
In 2001 legal ownership of the flag was transferred to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery who expect the King family and the gallery to be acknowledged every time a replica of the original flag is displayed.
Current Status
The Eureka Flag, though it has no official status, is used by a variety of groups. The University of Ballarat, for instance, uses a stylised version of the 'Southern Cross' as its official logo. Some organisations whose goal it is to see Australia move from a monarchy to a republic have proposed the Eureka Flag as Australia's official flag. The flag was flown prominently above the Barcaldine strike camp of the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, and thus a strong association with the Australian labour movement from this time. Construction unions such as the Builders Labourers' Federation in particular adopted the Eureka flag, and it is one of the flags that flies permanently over the Melbourne Trades Hall. It has also been used as a symbol of rebellion by groups on both sides of the political spectrum, who see it as representative of the efforts of the miners to free themselves from what they view, depending on their political persuasion, as either political or economic oppression. Thus, the flag has draped the coffins of both communists and neo-Nazis. The Eureka Flag has also been incorporated into The Cove's emblem, and is prominent on the Cove scarf developed by a fan to support Sydney FC in the Hyundai A-League.
The modern design of the Eureka flag is an enhanced a different version to the 1854 original as it features blue keylines around each of the five stars. Although the flag is designed as a representation of the Southern Cross, a constellation located in southern skies and thus only visible to viewers in the southern hemisphere, the stars are arranged differently to the arrangement of stars in the constellation itself. The "middle" star (Epsilon Crucis) in the constellation is off centre, and near to the edge of the "diamond", while the Eureka flag shows it in the centre. The Eureka flag is only a stylised version of the more widely known pattern.
The Eureka Flag design is regularly put forward as a candidate to replace the Flag of Australia. While some Australians consider it a symbol of nationality, the essence of the Eureka flag for most people is a general purpose symbol of protest used by political radicals for a wide variety of non-conformist causes.
References
- He Found and Raised Eureka's Trampled Flag: a Tribute to Len Fox R.D. Walshe
- Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
See also
- The neo-nazi group the Patriotic Youth League, uses the flag as its logo
- Southern Cross Flag
External links
- Eureka Flag website
| Flags of Australia | |
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