Use Civil and state flag Adopted 1904 | Proportion 1:2 | |
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The current state flag of South Australia, was officially adopted by the government of South Australia in 1904.
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The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge is a gold disc featuring a piping shrike with its wings outstretched. The badge is believed to have been originally designed by Robert Craig, a teacher at the School of Arts in Adelaide, and officially gazetted on 14 January 1904.
Previous flags
The first flag of South Australia was adopted in 1870. It too was a defaced British Blue Ensign, but with a black disc in the fly containing the Southern Cross and the two pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri).
South Australia then adopted a second flag in 1876, also a Blue Ensign, with a new badge. The badge design was an artistic rendition of the arrival of Britannia (a woman in flowing garb and holding a shield, representing the new settlers) meeting an Aboriginal sitting with a spear on a rocky shoreline. A kangaroo appears to be carved into the rocks behind the Aboriginal. This flag was adopted after a request from the Colonial Office for a new design over the old one due to its similarity to the flags of New Zealand and Victoria.
Proposal for a new flag
On 29 October 2016, a motion to adopt a new, "more multicultural" state flag was passed at the South Australian Labor Party conference. It has yet to be seen how the State Government will act on this proposal.