The flag of Australia has a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. There are other official flags representing Australia, its people and core functions of government.

The flag’s original design (with a six-pointed Commonwealth Star) was chosen in 1901 from entries in a competition held following Federation, and was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901, the date proclaimed as Australian National Flag Day. A slightly different design was approved by King Edward VII in 1903. The seven-pointed commonwealth star version was introduced by a proclamation dated 8 December 1908. The dimensions were formally gazetted in 1934, and in 1954 the flag became recognised by, and legally defined in, the Flags Act 1953, as the ‘Australian National Flag’.

The Australian Aboriginal Flag represents Aboriginal Australians. It is one of the official flags of Australia, and holds special legal and political status. It is often flown together with the national flag and with the Torres Strait Islander Flag, which is also an official flag of Australia.

The Australian Aboriginal Flag was designed in 1971 by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, who is descended from the Luritja people of Central Australia and holds intellectual property rights to the flag’s design. The flag was originally designed for the land rights movement, and it became a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia.

The flag’s width is 1.5 times its height. It is horizontally divided into a black region (above) and a red region (below). A yellow disc is superimposed over the centre of the flag.

The symbolic meaning of the flag colours (as stated by Harold Thomas) is:

Black – represents the Aboriginal People of Australia

Yellow circle- represents the sun, giver of life and protector 

Red – represents the red earth, the red ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual relation to the land

The Torres Strait Islander Flag is an official flag of Australia, and is the flag that represents Torres Strait Islander people. It was designed in 1992 by Bernard Namok. It won a local competition held by the Islands Coordinating Council, and was recognised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in June 1992.

The Government of Australia granted it Flag of Australia status, under the Flags Act 1953 (Cth), by proclamation on 14 July 1995.

Due to an “administrative oversight”, the 1995 proclamation was not lodged so that it would continue in force indefinitely; hence it automatically expired on 1 January 2008. It was therefore almost identically replaced, on 25 January 2008, with effect as from 1 January.

In the 2008 proclamation, the flag “is recognised as the flag of the Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and a flag of significance to the Australian nation generally” and appointed “to be the flag of the Torres Strait Islander people of Australia and to be known as the Torres Strait Islander Flag”.

Although Namok has since died, the Torres Strait Islander Flag is still subject to copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The copyright was administered by the Island Coordinating Council until 2008, when that body was superseded by the Torres Strait Island Regional Council, which is willing to permit reproductions of the flag that are accurate and that acknowledge Namok as the designer.

The green panels at the top and the bottom of the flag symbolise the land, while the blue panel in the centre represents the waters of the Torres Strait. The thin black stripes between the green and blue panels signify the Torres Strait Islanders themselves. The white five-pointed star at the centre of the flag represents the five major island groups—the Western, Eastern, Central, Port Kennedy and (N.P.A.) Mainland—and the white dhari (dancer’s headdress) around it also symbolises the Torres Strait Islands people. White symbolises peace, while the star is a symbol for navigation.

The Templeton Oath has been part of the fabric of our school since we opened in 1980. The Oath acknowledges our responsibility as a school community and Australian Citizens to honour the Australian Flag, care for our environment, and respect other members of the community. Our Oath is recited every Monday morning at assembly by one of our Student Councillors, and repeated by the student cohort in unison.

An ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ is an opportunity to acknowledge, and pay respect, to the Traditional Owners and ongoing custodians of the land – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Acknowledgements are often made at the commencement of an event, such as a meeting, speech or formal occasion. An acknowledgement can be made by anybody, Indigenous or non-Indigenous. 

Knox has the second largest population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Melbourne’s Eastern Metropolitan Region. The Knox area is part of the Kulin cultural nation, which occupied Central Victoria around Port Phillip Bay and into the upper reaches of the Golburn and Lodden Rivers. Knox stands on the edge of the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri and the Bunurong.