![[Australian Olympic Federation's / Committee's logo]](../images/a/au@olyc89.jpg)
image located by Ralph Bartlett, 23 March 2018
Last modified: 2018-04-12 by ian macdonald
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The link at
http://corporate.olympics.com.au announces the use of an extremely
simplified Australian Arms (Supporters and Crest) above the Olympic rings. There
is also the other AOC "brand" flag, with a black & white out-lined version of
the full Australian Arms above the coloured Olympic Rings.
Ralph Bartlett,
25 March 2018
image located by Ralph Bartlett, 23 March 2018
The then Australian Olympic Federation's / Committee's logo, containing the
Australian National Flag above the Olympic Rings - both in full colours, was
adopted as both a logo and logo-flag on the 27 September 1989. This was granted
to the Australian Olympic Federation Incorporated, and published in the
Commonwealth of Australia Government Gazette No. GN 11, on 21 March 1990, p.841.
This partially obscured photo of the flag was taken at one of the Australian
team's training facilities prior to the London Olympics, in July 2012. The flag
itself is of 1:2 proportions, with the logo design in the centre of the white
field. I have one of these flags in my personal flag collection.
Ralph
Bartlett, 23 March 2018
![[Australian Olympic Federation's / Committee's logo]](../images/a/au@olyc83.jpg)
image located by Ralph Bartlett, 23 March 2018
Prior to this the AOF used between March 1983 and September 1989, a logo
consisting of a track-suited dressed "Willy the Koala" also beneath the
Australian National Flag. This logo also appeared in the centre of white field
flag of 1:2 proportions. I also have in my collection. I am yet to establish the
exact
date of the AOC's new (current) logo.
Ralph Bartlett, 23 March 2018
"I am yet to establish the exact date of the AOC's new (current) logo" -
http://corporate.olympics.com.au/4831C85C-8BA5-4E85-98EF350377E1C78B says
August 5th, 2015.
Zachary Harden, 24 March 2018
![[Australasian Olympic Flag]](../images/a/au_r1901.gif)
image by
image by Clay Moss, 19 December 2005
![[Australasian Olympic Flag]](../images/a/au~red.gif)
image by António Martins, 28 November 2005
At http://www.australian.olympic.org.au/games/austat.htm,
it says, "During two Olympics, in 1908 and 1912, Australia competed with New Zealand under the banner of Australasia."
Jean-Loup, 22 September 2000
The correct flag of the combined team is shown in two photographs of the team
at the opening ceremony of the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games. The source for
these photos is the book “Australasia’ Olympic Century: All the games in
pictures”, edited by Ross, Hutchinson & Associates and published by Ironbark
(Pan Macmillan Australia) in 1998.
Both photos show that an Australian
national flag was used. The 1908 photo indicates that the flag was a red
version of the Australian flag, whilst it is less clear in the 1912 flag,
but the Commonwealth Star is distinct.
At the 1896 Olympic Games,
Australia was represented by only one person - Edward Flack, who won two
first-place medals (then silver) for the 800 metre and 1500 metre running.
Flack grew up in Victoria, but at the time Flack was living in London. Australia
had not been established as a federated country in 1896. The flag used to
represent Flack’s two wins is reported
(http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/olympic/article.asp?Item=338) to have been the
Union Jack, with the Austrian flag initially being raised. The Union Jack was
appropriate as he had been nominated to compete by the London Athletic Club
and he was recorded as a British gold medalist until 1936.
In 1908 12
Australians and 2 New Zealanders marched as a team called “Australasia”. The
flag-bearer was Henry St Aubyn Murray, from New Zealand. This was the first
Olympic Games where athletes marched as teams under a national flag. A New
Zealander, Malcolm Champion, also carried the Australian flag at the opening
ceremony.
Because the 7-pointed version of the red ensign did not become official
until December 1908, it was not used until the 1912 Games and a
6-pointed version was used for the 1908 Games.
Ralph Kelly, 19 March
2018
In support of Ralph's wording here, I think it would be foolish to say
anything that suggests that "the Australian Flag" referred unambiguously to the
red or the blue at that point in time. In this context, red would be more
appropriate in terms of what we know of official policy. It is also my (limited)
experience that items associated with the Olympics often used red ensigns for
all the British dominions, even when that was arguably less appropriate (for
example, New Zealand).
Jonathan Dixon, 22 March 2018
From looking at this AOC provided photo:
http://aoc-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/mediacentre/, it shows that the red ensign
was used for Australia in the 1936 Berlin Games. After the Games resumed in
1948, the Australians used a blue ensign (http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/les-mckay)
but continued with
blue in 1952 for Helsinki (https://media.gettyimages.com). br>New Zealand looks like they used red at
the 1920 Antwerp Games (http://www.oldnewzealand.info/sport/olympics/olympics.html)
but I cannot confirm that. Also for 1936 the Kiwis used a red ensign, (
http://www.germanpostalhistory.com if this postcard is to be believed). I
believe either 1952 in Helsinki or 1956 in Melbourne is when the Kiwis switched
from red to blue, but the only evidence I have is from 1956 (http://www.sailing.org).
Zachary Harden, 22 March 2018
The Australian Olympic Committee website that cited above (http://corporate.olympics.com.au/games/london-1948)
at the bottom shows a video of the 1948 Opening Ceremony, and it clearly shows
use of a blue Australian flag. Blue would be correct for the Australian flag
protocol in 1948. To confuse things the page also has a photo of the wrestling
team holding a red ensign.
I agree that the Australian red ensign was used up
to and including Berlin 1936.
Ralph Kelly, 23 March 2018
![[Australasian Olympic Flag]](../images/o/oly@nzau.gif)
image by Juan Manuel Gabino, 22 September 2000I drew this flag from a T.V. series called "The Olympic Games of the Modern Era: Athens 1896", broadcasted by "Once TV".
The flag corresponds to Australia and/or Australasia. It features the Union Jack and a blue shield -over a white circle- in the fly with the Southern Cross, crowned by the "Tudor" crown.
As far as I know the Tudor crown came into use from 1902 until 1953. Then,
the flag may correspond exclusively for "Australasia" (1908-1912). But
according to the TV series it was also used 1896-1900. [editor - this was before Australia had its own flag]
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascan, 22 September 2000
The flag generally corresponds to the purported colonial badge for the governor of the colony of Victoria in 1877. This badge (with its shield) was proposed by the British Admiralty and reproduced in some early flag publications and cigarette cards, but was never actually used in Victoria. The Southern Cross surmounted with a Crown applied directly to the field of the blue ensign was the correct method of applying the Victorian colonial badge to the ensign (i.e. as it is today). The original shape of the crown was an "Imperial Crown" and this was changed to a "Tudor Crown" (as drawn in the attachment) in 1901.
I am interested in the source of this claim that this Victorian flag was
used by the combined Australia/New Zealand team. It is certainly possible,
given the casual attitude to flags in the early years, though this report is
the first occasion that I have seen any attempt to describe the flag used
for the Olympic athletes. To the extent that I had thought about the
matter, I had assumed that the team used the British Union Jack. Is it
clear that the documentary is citing a contemporary source, or could it be
that the producer has simply used an "old" flag design?
Ralph Kelly, 23 September 2000
[This flag] was raised for swimming events (I
can remember seeing a photo of one of the medal ceremonies -
unfortunately I have no idea where the photo was, but I can
distinctly remember that it was the first time I'd ever seen the
Australasian flag). Can't understand why it wouldn't have been for
the other events at the games, either. Then again, the photo was of
the relay team, which had a New Zealander as part of it, so that might be a partial explanation.
James Dignan, 1 March 2005
I have not been able to locate any information on a TV series called “The Olympic Games of the Modern Era: Athens 1896”, but there is a two-episode docu-drama called “The First Olympics: Athens 1896" that was made by Columbia Pictures Television in 1984 which recreated the story of the creation of the American team for the 1896 games. So, the primary source of this design is a flag in a movie - how reliable is that?
The correct flags for these games are the red ensign flags, as recounted
above.
Ralph Kelly, 19 March 2018
The salute to the king in 1908 appears to show the Australian flag, with
stars on the dark background. The Library of Congress provides us with an image
of the salute, showing the flag with stars, including the Commonwealth Star (https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2012/07/london-olympic-games-then-and-now-1908-2012/).
[This is, of course, the point in the London 1908 opening ceremony where the
American flag was in fact dipped.] I can't make out the exact number of points
on the Commonwealth Star, but unless new flags were made in anticipation of the
formal change, this flag should have been in the old style.
The New
Zealand Olympic Committee shows us a higher resolution image of the flag,
clearly without a shield but unfortunately somewhat furled:
http://www.olympic.org.nz/assets/Museum/_resampled/ScaleWidthWyI3MDAiXQ/london-1908-object-2.jpg
(at
http://www.olympic.org.nz).
Te Ara covers the Australasian team at
London 1908 with "An Australasian team represented New Zealand and Australia
jointly at the 1908 London Olympic Games. The New Zealanders in the team wore a
special crest with a kiwi and silver ferns placed below the Australian coat of
arm, and emu and a kangaroo. These Olympics were the first to have a formal
opening ceremony. The team marched behind the Australian flag, but New Zealand
hurdler Henry Murray ... was the flag bearer. ...
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/37885/australasian-team-london-1908
There's no mention of the colour of the flag. They're wrong about London
1908 to have the first formal opening ceremony, I would say. But not many people
realise Athens 1906 contributed a lot of details of the games as they are now,
the opening ceremony among them. I would be surprised to learn about colour
photographs for London, 1908, but maybe different shades of dark can be seen
close together in the photograph.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 20
March 2018
