Why does the Australian flag have the flag of Great Britain in it?

Question

I know that it is probably because Australia was part of the British Empire, but i'm wondering why Australia has it, and other places that were in the British empire such as Canada, America, etc. So basically, why does Australia have the British flag in their flag and other parts of the former empire do not?

Answer 1

It is still part of the British commonwealth and therefore will still have the flag of Great Britain incorporated within.

Answer 2

Below is the story of how it came to be.

Answer 3

We discovered it!

Answer 4

Cause the stupid Queen is head of state.

Answer 5

It symbolises Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based. although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire and thats why some of the other countries dont have it. bascially its because they want to and others dont.

Answer 6

Up until 1965, Canada had the Canadian Red Ensign as their official flag which was red and showed the union flag in one quarter and the canadian coat of arms (including the maple leaf).

Answer 7

Australia is still part of the British Commonwealth which succeded the British Empire and has the Queen of the UK as its head of state and it is their choice as well as the choice of several other countries to keep the Union flag as part of their flag.

The odd one is Hawaii which is now part of the USA

Answer 8

the simple answer is that a competition was held in oz for a new flag when the federation of australia was formed,and the present design was chosen,"GREAT LOOKING FLAG A"  ps,to those that want to change it for change's sake,i say to you F O

Answer 9

Really depends on what the people of that country wanted, some wanted to retain the Union Flag to show a connection with the past some didn't. The 'Union Jack' forms part of a lot of flags around the world including at least 1 US state (Hawaii)

Answer 10

'Cos it's still in the Commonwealth.

Answer 11

Because its a commonwealth country

Answer 12

its because were great and owned the world once.

Then silly thatcher gave it up!

Answer 13

Where the stars are in the american flag once was the union jack for about 100 years,before the tea troubles started brewing and Independence.Hawaii still has a union jack as has fiji aus and NZ.SA had it in the middle.Canada had it until 1906.If you become a republic than the queen cannot be head of state,Hence america and canada,but persists in Aus and NZ.

Answer 14

Canada did until they adopted a new flag in 1965. The United States gained independence through warfare, so they're not likely to include a british symbol on their flag. And other former parts of the British empire were conquered, so they would not continue to honor the Union Jack after gaining independence.

Answer 15

because we own their @sses.

well we do kinda. there are quite a few places with the union jack on their flag, like some of the Caribbean islands and st helena island which are still british dependence's, australia and canada are also british, well they still answer to the queen anyway. other countries like india, changed their flags when they got their independence.

Answer 16

Because Britain totally colonized Australia and the flag of the United Kingdom was used for australia for so long that it became part of their National flag. However, at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, the United States had no official national flag. The Grand Union Flag has historically been referred to as the "First National Flag"; although it has never had any official status, it was used throughout the American Revolutionary War by George Washington and formed the basis for the design of the first official U.S. flag. The origins of the design are unclear. It closely resembles the British East India Company flag of the same era. However, the BEIC flag could have from 9 to 13 stripes, and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean.

Instead of the blue with white stars in the corner it had the Union Jack in 1775 untill 1777.