PROPOSED NEW AUSTRALIAN ENSIGNS

Although the national flag of Australia is the Blue Ensign, several variations of this flag are also flown for merchant shipping and military purposes. If a new Australian flag is adopted, new ensigns would also be needed. With this in mind, I have designed four variations of the proposed national flag that could be used as new ensigns. As with the new flag design, these ensigns maintain strong continuity with their current counterparts.

RED ENSIGN

The Red Ensign is used by Australian merchant ships. Many nations simply use their flag in the upper left corner of a red flag for their merchant ensign, but Australia uses a modification of the colours of the National Flag, a concept used in this design.

NAVAL ENSIGN

The current Naval Ensign was first flown in 1967, during Australia's involvement in the Viet Nam war. Prior to this, Australia flew the Naval Ensign of the UK. The green and gold stripes are reversed on this design so the gold stripes are not placed against the white field.

AIR FORCE ENSIGN

The current Air Force Ensign dates back to 1949, although the circular insignia was changed to the kangaroo design in 1982. As with the other proposals, this ensign maintains the Southern Cross as currently used and raises the Commonwealth Star to the canton.

CIVIL AIR ENSIGN

This design is a departure from the other ensigns. As with the current Civil Air Ensign, it is a light blue flag, charged with a dark blue cross, but with the Union Jack replaced by the proposed new National flag. The stars of the current ensign are not used as they are replicated in the canton.

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