![[Australian Defence Force Ensign]](../images/a/au^adf.gif)
image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
Last modified: 2021-08-14 by ian macdonald
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image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
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The "Australian Defence Force Ensign" has been proclaimed in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Special Issue No. S190, Friday 14 April 2000, under Section 5 of the Flags Act as a "flag of Australia". This is similar to the gazettal of the Royal Australian Naval Ensign and more recently the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
I understand that the flag is the same as Flag 4 on page 29 (correction number 30) of Album des Pavillons [pay00]. It is a vertical tricolour of Dark Blue, Red, Light Blue with a large Joint Services Emblem in yellow in the centre, extending into the two blue bands. The Joint Services Emblem is a combination of a naval anchor, airforce wings, crossed army swords over a boomerang and a Commonwealth star as crest. In Album des Pavillons it is identified as both the flag of the Minister of Defence and the Joint Services Flag.
The flag has been used on such occasions as required to reflect joint
facilities and joint services of the military, with the RAN ensign, RAAF
ensign and Australian Blue Ensign used where only one military branch is
involved. The most significant joint facility is the Defence Forces
Officer Training Academy at Duntroon.
Ralph Kelly, 17 April 2000
In Album 2000 [pay00], the emblem is a mirror image of the one above.
Željko Heimer, 5 February 2001
Another aspect is that a statutory rule made under Section 7 of the Flags Act 1953 was also
proclaimed specifying that the Australian Defence Force Ensign will take precedence
over the Australian White Ensign and the Royal Australian Air Force Ensign. This aspect has upset Australian National Flag Association
which has taken the view that the newly authorised ensign should not rank ahead of derivatives of the Australian National Flag.
Ralph Kelly, 18 April 2000
My initial reaction to this was that it was obvious that the flag should rank ahead of other ensigns, because the Defence Force as a whole ranks higher than each individual service, meaning that the problem ANFA have the arrangement is that a high ranking flag has been designed without using the 'normal Australian ensign template'
Then I thought again - the situation can be looked at differently. The
white and RAAF ensigns could be seen as flags representing Australia, as
used by the navy and air force respectively, rather than flags
specifically representing the navy or the air force. This applies to the
naval ensign more so than to the RAAF ensign, I suppose. This would make
the navy and air forces's use of their ensigns more in line with the
army's use of the blue ensign. In this case, the ensigns would appear to
outrank the combined services flag, and ANFA's problem is not so much to
do with how Australia is represented, but the fact that a flag
representing the Defence Force, rather than Australia, is being given
higher priority.
Jonathan Dixon, 19 April 2000
I suspect that although an official flag of Australia, the Australian
Joint Forces flag couldn't be used on its own to represent Australia,
whereas the Australian white and RAAF ensigns can, so the rank would be ambiguous
in an international situation.
Graham Bartram, 19 April 2000
This flags was again proclaimed under Section 5, and the statutory rules issued under Section 7, on 25 January 2008, with effect from 1 October 2006. The Legislative Instruments Act 2003 required the originals to be lodged in a Federal Register, and due to an administrative oversight they were not, and they were automatically repealed.
The other 4 flags previously afforded the same status were re-proclaimed at the same time. One consequence of the Legislative Instruments Act, apart from the unintended repeal of the original proclamations, is to make all current legislative instruments enabled by the Flags Act available through the register at the Attorney-General's Department ComLaw site.
Jonathan Dixon, 23 June and 1 October 2008
According to Album 2000 [pay00], the Minister for Defence uses the joint services flag with proportions 2:3 as a car flag.
Željko Heimer, 5 February 2001
The RAAF Manual of Ceremonial, AAP 5135.002, which is downloadable at this Air Cadet Corps site, shows a vertical triband, 1:2, dark blue with a modern-style gold anchor, red with crossed swords, and light blue with the
wedge-tailed eagle from the RAAF badge, also in gold. The footnote says this is used only as a car flag.
Joe McMillan, 22 November 2003
The RAAF Manual of Ceremonial probably includes a misinterpretation of the official specification. Note that the Army Ceremonial Manual (PDF) describes this flag as having the "Joint Service Emblem", in singular; in other words, the minister (and the minister assisting the minister) fly the so-called Australian Defence Force Ensign. Also, the Army Ceremonial Manual does not restrict its use to just car flags.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007
These flags come in two sizes: 90cm by 180cm, and (as car flags) 15cm by 23cm.
Miles Li, 6 November 2007
![[Chief of Defence Force flag]](../images/a/au^cdf.gif)
image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
According to Album 2000, the Chief of Defence Force's flag is a horizontally striped joint services flag with four five pointed stars in the bottom stripe.
Željko Heimer, 5 February 2001
This flag is flown with the Chief of Navy, Chief of Army and Chief of Air Force flags outside the Department of Defence in Canberra almost daily.
Miles Li, 27 February 2002
The RAAF Manual of Ceremonial, AAP 5135.002, which is downloadable at this Air Cadet Corps site, shows this flag for the Chief of Defence Force, but with the word "AUSTRALIA" below the boomerang in the badge.
The footnote says this can be used as a car flag or as a masthead flag flown
on "RAAF establishments, joint service lodger units or
at the parade area to mark the appointment of the reviewing officer".
Joe McMillan, 22 November 2003
The Army Ceremonial Manual (PDF) says that the lettering mentioned by the RAAD Manual of Ceremonial (golden capital sans-serif letters "AUSTRALIA") is included only when the flag (whether in full-size or as a car flag) is flown outside Australia.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007
![[Flag of Vice Chief of Defence Force]](../images/a/au^adf3.gif)
image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
This flag [the joint services flag with three gold stars beneath the emblem] is used by the Vice Chief of Defence Force.
(Source: Australian Army Ceremonial Manual, Volume 1, Annex E to Chapter 22, available as a PDF file.)
Miles Li, 6 November 2007
Vice Chief of Defence Force if of four star rank
![[Flag of Vice Chief of Defence Force if of 4 star rank]](../images/a/au^adf4.gif)
image by Miles Li, 7 Oct 2005In October 2005, Miles Li reported that this flag [the joint services flag with four gold stars beneath the emblem] is used by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force if they are of 4 star rank. On 6 November 2007, he stated that the image is not the correct flag, noting that at the moment there is only one active four-star officer for the Australian Defence Force — the Chief of the Defence Force. Željko Heimer asks whether the flag used depends on whether the Vice Chief has 3 or 4 star rank.
![[Flag of Joint Commander 2 Stars]](../images/a/au^adf2.gif)
image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
This flag [the joint services flag with two gold stars beneath the emblem] is used only by major generals (army) commanding joint
services institutions; it is currently used by Commander, Australian
Defence College.
Miles Li, 8 November 2004
![[Flag of Joint Commander 2 Stars]](../images/a/au^adf1.gif)
image by Miles Li, 6 Nov 2007
This flag [the joint services flag with a gold star beneath the emblem] is flown only by Army Brigadiers holding joint appointments and not otherwise entitled to fly another flag.
Miles Li, 6 November 2007
