Western Australia (Australia)

Last modified: 2005-04-02 by jonathan dixon
Keywords: australia | western australia | swan | blue ensign |
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by Jorge Candeias

• Description of the flag
• State Governor
• Coat of Arms (Large file - 23K)
• Successionist Flag of the 1930s
• Parliament House Centenary Flag
• Western Australia Fire and Rescue Service

See also:

• Australia
• Australia Subdivisions
• Other Australia flags
• PFlag (Parents and friends of gay people)

Description of the flag

The Western Australian state flag was created as a colonial flag - a British Blue Ensign with the badge of the colony added to the blue field. In Australia, Western Australia's badge [a black swan ona yellow background] was the only design intended to clearly symbolise the colony. WA was originally called the Swan River Settlement and the black seal found upon the river had become recognised as representing the Colony.
Ralph Kelly, 19 September 1999

W. Smith says that Western Australia uses more then one variation of the flag, but shows only one: a 'blue duster' with black swan in yellow disk, but they are just different artistic renditions of the black swan.
Brendan Jones, 19 March 1996

State Governor

Western Australia State Governor used the defaced Union Flag. It changed to a defaced Blue Ensign in 1988. I don't know what the ensign defacements are.
David Prothero, 24 February 1997

The Western Australian State Governor's flag was changed to a slight variation of the State Flag, with the addition of the St. Edward's Crown above the fly badge on 12 April 1988, after three other states had made a similar change.
Ralph Bartlett, 4 August 2004

The Western Australian State Governor's flag changed around 1989 from the defaced Union Jack with the Black Swan emblem, to the current state flag with the crown placed above the black swan. I was a police officer for many years and spent many mornings hoisting the Governors flag over Government House, Perth. The then Governor decided that the old design was to similar to the Union Flag and caused confusion.
Chris Donnelly, 8 August 2004

See also: State Governors' flags

Successionist Flag of the 1930s

This flag came about by a campaign lead by The Dominion League and a successful referendum in Western Australia (April 1933) for the State to leave the Commonwealth of Australia and return to Britain as a directly governed territory. Despite the success of the referendum, the W.A. government of the day never enacted the result because neither King George V or his government were interested in reaquiring this former colony. The design consists of a Black Swan (facing the fly) on a Yellow Disc surrounded with a Black Ring, all centred on a British Union Flag.
Ralph Bartlett, 4 January 2001