![[Eureka Flag]](../images/a/au_eureka.gif)
image by
Eugene Ipavec, 6 May 2011
Last modified: 2016-02-27 by ian macdonald
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Eugene Ipavec, 6 May 2011
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The Southern Cross, those five stars which were shining over this land before it was even formed, featured in literature as early as the 13th Century, when the Italian writer Dante (1265-1321) mentioned it in his work: Purgatorio, which was part of the Paradisio-Inferno-Purgatorio trilogy.[1]
Dante must have been told of this cross in the South and it must have been so low on the horizon, because the fifth star now known as Epsilon, the faintest of the five, was not mentioned.
Amerigo Vespucci recorded having seen "four magnificent stars'' in 1502 and then in 1515, Antonio Pigafetta, who sailed with Magellan on mankind's first voyage around the world, wrote of "a wonderful cross, most glorious of all the constellations in the heavens".
The cross was finally defined as a separate constellation in 1679 when French astronomer Augustine Royer first coined the term: Crux Australis - Southern Cross.
To the four brightest stars of this Southern Cross, Dante in Purgatorio, attributed the admirable virtues of Justice, Prudence, Temperance and Fortitude.
The names of the stars as featured on the present Australian flag, are the spectacularly-imaginative: A, B, C, D and E, the first five letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon.
That Italy's most famous writer should name the stars, continues the remarkable multicultural history of The Eureka Flag - Eureka being Greek for the exclamation "I have found it!".
It was designed by a Canadian digger called Lieutenant Ross (who died defending the Eureka Stockade on Sunday, December 3, 1854) and it was made, according to German Frederick Vern (who first moved the diggers burn their licences) by "two English ladies".
The leader of the diggers at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat in December, 1854, was an Irishman called Peter Lalor (MLC 1855-56, MLA 1856-57, 1874-89, Speaker 1880-89).
The first digger to be acquitted in Melbourne after the Eureka stockade battle was a black American named John Josephs.
Members of the Independent Californian Rangers' Revolver Brigade helped defend the stockade and the six recognised leaders at Eureka (apart from Lalor and Vern), were Irishman Timothy Hayes, Welshman John Humffray (also elected to Parliament), George Black, an Englishman and Kennedy, a Scot.
Italian Raffaello Carboni, later elected a Member of the Local Court at Ballarat, was one of the 13 Eureka prisoners.
Henry Lawson later wrote "20 minutes freed Australia at Eureka long ago" and American writer Mark Twain, described this lost struggle against tyranny as "another instance of a victory won by a lost battle".
In the dark, early hours of that Sunday, when only 120 of the previous night's 1500 volunteers were still present at the stockade, the English Queen's soldiers and police troopers attacked and 22 diggers were killed, more than 100 were imprisoned and the bullet-ridden Eureka flag was torn down and dragged through the dust.
This same flag is now at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.[2].
Sue Flavel, 4 November 1998
In The Courier on 13 April 2004 (see this site), Catherine Best
reports that the flag should move to Eureka Centre, also located in
Ballarat.
This potential move is one of the conclusions of a $70,000 study on
the future viability of the Centre. Another $4.5 million should be
spent "to enhance the attraction and improve patronage".
Among the conclusions of the study, it is stated that "The absence of
the Eureka Flag from the centre (and its location elsewhere within
Ballarat) adds to the perception that it is not a serious institution".
It seems that the relocation of the flag form the Gallery to the Centre
is an old matter of contention, especially because current display
facilities of the Centre are not appropriate.
Ivan Sache, 16 April 2004
Another image can be seen at http://made.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Eureka-Flag.jpg, from MADE (Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka).
It has been well known in Australian flag and history circles that the
original design of the Eureka Flag was lost from public awareness shortly after
the time of the incident in 1854. The actual flag has been in the possession of
the Ballarat Art Gallery from 1895, but for most of the period until the 1970s
it was not on public display, it had not been properly conserved and there was
no available illustration or photograph of its design. Following the Eureka
rebellion, various illustrations of the flag were used for newspapers and books
(such as the 1855 account by a participant in the rebellion, Raffaelo Carboni)
which shared the common description of a blue flag with a white Southern Cross -
but there was little uniformity of drawing - hence the various erroneous or
speculative re-constructions.
The first significant Australian
vexillologist, Frank Cayley was the first person to actively provide widely
available accurate information on the Eureka Flag in his 1966 book "Flag of
Stars" [Cay66]. Cayley described how he first inspected the flag in 1963 and was
able to measure it and compare it with fragments from two other sources (which
were documented to have been torn from the original flag on the day of its
capture). The first published account of the accurate design of the Eureka flag
was in 1963 when the Melbourne journalist Len Fox privately published a booklet
"The Strange Story of the Eureka Flag". Len Fox first saw the flag in 1944 and
for almost 20 years sought to reconcile conflicting historical reports of the
design of the flag - e.g., it was usually described as "silk", but the flag at
Ballarat was wool. Fox went on to write several books on the Eureka Stockade and
its flag.
Ralph Kelly, 5 May 2011
A photograph is located at the Art
Gallery of Ballarat [now Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka]. This is a
photograph of the actual Eureka flag as restored in 1973, with the work
undertaken by Mrs Val D'Angri, a local needlework teacher. Mrs D'Angri estimates
that approximately 31% of the original flag is missing and the restoration was
undertaken on the basis that the original flag dimensions were 260 x 400 cm
(i.e. 2:3.08 proportion) The horizontal cross is 37 cm wide and the vertical
cross 36 cm wide. The central star is slightly larger than the others and was
measured by Mrs D'Angri to be 65 cm tall (point to point) and the other stars 60
cm tall. (Source: drawing by Mr N D'Angri in "The Eureka Flag: Our Starry
Banner" by Dorothy Wickham, Clare Gervasoni and Val D'Angri, published 2000
Ballarat Heritage Services.)
The materials were identified by D'Angri as:
Dark Blue Field: wool from 1850s sheep - weft 28, warp 24/sq cm
Described as "Prussian" blue, possibly from a bolt of dress
material.
Cross: Indian cotton - twill weave 3/1 - off-white - weft 32, warp
32/sq cm
Stars: Fine cotton lawn (possibly from a petticoat) - weft 32, warp
30/sq sm
Thread: original - cotton. For the restoration, cotton was used, but
some polyester thread was used on the upper edges for strength.
With age,
both white fabrics have faded to the same yellowish cream colour. It is possible
that the stars originally had a brighter sheen than the cross, but there was no
attempt to create a fimbriation beyond that created by the seams.
The
original flag is currently in the process of being restored again at a cost of
A$100,000. The polyester backing has been replaced by a natural material and the
proportions of the flag as displayed are apparently going to alter from those
used for the original restoration. A video originally broadcast on the
Australian ABC television news on 22 December 2010 (available on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHspOAdXSKg) shows the detail of the fabric
of the stars and crosses and the stitching.
Many of the modern
reconstructions of the Eureka flag are made in the proportions 1x2 - this is for
the flag makers convenience, as this is the standard proportion for flags in
Australia. Also, from the 1970s, a thin blue fimbriation was created around the
stars to provide greater contrast - even though they are incorrect with
reference to the original flag.
Ralph Kelly, 6 May 2011
On 3 December 2011, it was the 157th. anniversary of the 1854 storming of the
gold miner's Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, by the then
Colony's troops. Yesterday, the only known original Eureka Stockade Flag
returned to its home at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, after a 14 month
restoration project in Adelaide, South Australia. Please refer to the following
"Ballarat Courier" newspaper website for details
http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/eureka-flag-is-fixed-and-back-in-ballarat/2379885.aspx
and also the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (A.B.C.) television news report
at
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-02/newly-restored-eureka-flag-goes-on-display/3708756.
Ralph Bartlett, 3 December 2011
[1]. Dante Alighieri does not refer to the Southern Cross -
his words in the second cantica of the Divine Comedy only referred to seeing
"four stars. Ne'er seen before save by the primal people". Commentators
subsequently identified these four stars as the Southern Cross and these
commentators (but not Dante) began to attribute to these stars the four cardinal
virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. These virtues are part
of the Christian doctrine described by St Thomas Aquinas.
The linking of
Dante to the Southern Cross is part of Australian flag folk-lore. One of the
designers of the Australian national flag flag in 1901, Mr Ivor Evans claimed
that Dante's four moral virtues were the inspiration for his use of the Southern
Cross. Whilst this is part of the mythology being promoted by the Australian
National Flag Association, it should be noted that the claim was made by Evans
in an article written in 1959 that exaggerated his role in the competition.
Evans conveniently omitted that the same arrangement of the Southern Cross stars
(including the uneven number of points) was identical to that used on the
Victorian commercial flag since 1870 and that his father was the proprietor of
one of the largest flag making businesses in Melbourne. But of course, it makes
for better propaganda to emphasise that he was a 14 year-old schoolboy in 1901.
Ralph Kelly, 2 May 2010
[2] The image shown at
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images1/eureka_fl.gif is in fact the remains
of the actual Eureka Flag believed to have flown over the Miner's Stockade in
Ballarat on the 2-3 December 1854. This flag is permanently on display at the
Ballarat Fine Arts Museum, under special lighting and behind an air tight
protective glass. The image on this page is a traditional image of what the flag
would look like, undamaged. I should point out that a more accurate and clearer
image of the Eureka Flag is available on the web site of Flags Australia at;
http://www.flagsaustralia.com.au/HistoricalFlags.html, then scroll down to
the Eureka Flag. All the images on this web site were prepared by Flags
Australia Webmaster, Ralph Kelly.
Ralph Bartlett, 2 May 2010
The Eureka flag has had significance to sizeable groups of various political persuasions in
Australia in more recent decades, albeit in a modernised form.
Jonathan Dixon, 19 February 2005
The Electrical Trades Union flag features the Eureka flag. Many ETU shirts and
jumpers can be seen at the ETU shop, and many have the
Eureka flag on the chest or shoulder, providing more examples of the use of
this flag by the Union movement in Australia.
Jonathan Dixon, 23 January 2006
![[Eureka Flag]](../images/a/au_eka.gif)
image by Jorge Candeias
There has been a move to standardise the modern Eureka Flag which
involves the
creation of a small blue fimbriation around the stars which does not exist
on the original,
and it is frequently made in the modern Australian flag proportions of 1x2.
Ralph Kelly, 14 February 2005
Rob Raeside forwarded a link to a flag for sale on eBay. It definitely appears to be a modern celebration of Ned Kelly. I am not sure why it is being produced as a flag, because it doesn't look like it should be.
Perhaps the most interesting vexillological aspect of it is the use of the
Eureka flag. Ned Kelly and Eureka are both often used as examples/symbols
of the same Australian rebellious spirit, but I don't think there is
anything to suggest that Ned Kelly ever associated himself with the Eureka
flag.
Jonathan Dixon, 27 July 2007
The logo of the University of Ballarat consists of a seal depicting the Eureka
flag with added red and yellow stripes at the top & bottom edges.
Eugene Ipavec, 18 March 2009
The official web site for the Eureka Centre Ballarat (www.eurekaballarat.com), the official organisers of this year's 150th anniversary celebrations for the Eureka Flag includes 6 pages devoted entirely to the Eureka Flag, including a press release announcing the presentation and first reading in the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia of a Bill to amend the Flags Act 1953 to recognise the Eureka Flag as an official flag of Australia. This Bill was presented to Federal Parliament on the 2 December 2003 (House of Representatives) and the again in March 2004 (The Senate), and is sponsored by the Federal Member for Ballarat, Ms. Catherine King, M.H.R.
Ralph Bartlett, 16 April 2004
It should be pointed out that the private members bills seeking recognition of the Eureka
flag have zero chance of being successful under the present Liberal-National Party coalition
government.
Ralph Kelly 14 February 2005
In the lead up to the 150th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade incident the
Ballarat Courier reported on the opposition to officially recognising the
Eureka flag. The position of the Liberal Party is that plans to officially
recognise the Eureka flag are 'politically motivated'.
The Australian Flag Society featured in a number of Courier articles. The
Society argued that according to established orderly processes and the
traditions of Australian heraldry only flags in 'current use' should be
registered under the Flags Act, pointing out that such learned men as former
High Court Chief Justices Sir Harry Gibbs and Sir Ninian Stephen also
support this view. The Australian Federation flag is another historical flag
from Australia's colonial past which is still used in Australia today as a
flag of historical significance - the society questioned why the Eureka flag
deserves a superior status to this equally important historical flag. In one
report a spokesperson for the Society was quoted as saying: "I also think
that flags of Australia should be appointed by the Governor-General as head
of state. I don't think Ms King's private member's bill, aimed at inserting
the flag into the Flags Act, is the right way to address the matter." (The
Courier, Eureka flag proposal puts critics in a flap, 22 July 2004)
One interesting issue that this proposal does raise involves the design of
the Eureka flag. If the Eureka flag was going to become a 'flag of Australia' then surely the official design
must be based on the specimen hanging in the local museum in Ballarat. Of
course the 1854 design is not nearly as attractive as the modern one.
Raymond Morris, 12 Feb 2005
[Ed: The issue of who is the head of state of Australia is a matter of much debate at times and depends on the definition of "head of state". The idea that it is the Governor-General, rather than the Queen, is most often publicly put forward by monarchists, and it has been explained to us that this is case here. However, it should be noted that the issue is not directly relevant to the argument being made by the spokesperson.]
The opposition to the proposal is because the Eureka Flag was originally used in an anti-government
riot, and also because it is used by both the far-left and the far-right
nowadays.
Miles Li, 12 February 2005
Raymond Morris adds more reasons why he is opposed to the proposal:
It is interesting to note that in 1949 - not that long ago - a movie
entitled the 'Eureka Stockade' was made, which starred Chips Rafferty
a famous Australian actor of the day. The Eureka flag used by the
producers of this film was not 5 stars arranged on a white cross - it
was the Southern Cross from Australia's flag! How could that happen?
I understand that the producers even went to Ballarat to do research
for this film. If this film is treated as an important historical
record then this oversight makes me think that not too many
Australian people knew what the famous 'Eureka flag' looked like in
1949.
Raymond Morris, 18 February 2005
Raymond Morris points out that the Eureka flag makes some Australians very unhappy, and it has even been said that there was 'violent opposition' to this proposal from some MPs. Although the proposed amendment would not make the Eureka flag Australia's national flag, it has been suggested as an alternative national flag in the past. This became an issue during the 2004 federal election, as shown by this ABC news report contributed by Raymond Morris:
ABC, 10 Sep 2004.Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson has made the Eureka flag a federal election campaign issue.
He says Labor leader Mark Latham, while the mayor of Liverpool in the early 1990s, declared the current Australian flag had outlived its usefulness and should be replaced by the Eureka flag.
Mr Anderson says he believes most Australians want the current flag to stay, and he is also not in favour of flying the Eureka flag at Parliament House in Canberra to mark the 150th anniversary of the rebellion.
"I think people have tried to make too much of the Eureka Stockade - I think that, you know, you're trying to give it a credibility and standing that it probably doesn't enjoy.
"Now the left wing's always adopted the flag as their symbol, the union movement in this country, I think it would be just interesting to know whether Mr Latham has changed his view since 1992 because I can find nothing on the record that he says that he has."
Mr Latham and the federal Labor Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, were both unavailable for comment.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/vic/ballarat/200409/s1196347.htmThe Eureka flag is a brilliant flag design, and for that reason has
been taken up by many sorts of groups, some calling themselves
nationalistic and some not, in the 150 years since the Eureka stockade.
So, in some sense because of its wonderful design, it has obtained a lot
lot of other connotations which mean that it will not be accepted by
all the people as just a beautiful Australian flag design, at least in the near future.
Jonathan Dixon, 2 March 2005
I saw on a top of an hotel near Central station in Sydney a flag which is identical to the Eureka flag except for a white southern cross in the canton.
Its symbolism is a bit baffling, the flag itself is a strictly Australian affair and what more, the basic design is itself meant to represent the southern cross meaning this particular item contain 2.
So what could it be? an Australo-australian ethnic flag? an
Australian republican political banner?
Marc Pasquin, 29 January 2005
The Courier, 2 March 2006, reports:
The Eureka Flag has been named a winner of the inaugural Victorian Heritage Icons Awards.
The flag, nominated by Ballarat Mayor David Vendy, was one of six icons selected for the first National Trust awards.
It was chosen from a list of hundreds as a symbol of nationalism, democracy and a "fair go".
[...]
Eureka Centre operations manager Ron Egeberg said the flag was an important symbol for all Australians. The award, announced at Melbourne's Young and Jackson Hotel yesterday, recognised the flag's significance in Australia's history, Mr Egeberg said."All of us associated with Eureka will be delighted that the flag has been recognised in such a prestigious way.
"It's a fitting tribute to Eureka and it recognises the flag's significance in Australia's history.
"It's an important symbol for all us Australians as the flag of freedom, fairness and a fair go for all."
Planning Minister Rob Hulls, in announcing the winners, said the awards aimed to reflect public opinion on popular concepts of heritage. He said the Eureka flag was the emblem of the country's most significant rebellion.
[...]
Comedian Rod Quantock, media commentators Neil Mitchell and Jill Singer, historian Professor Graeme Davison, Heritage Council Victoria chair Chris Gallagher and National Trust chair Dianne Weidner made up the judging panel.
Ivan Sache, 7 March 2006
There are reports that the Australian Flag Society has offered a $10,000
bounty for information which leads to the discovery of the "Eureka Jack" as it
is now known, which has reportedly flown as a second flag at the Battle of the
Eureka Stockade in 1854:
http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/1858615/10000-reward-to-track-down-the-other-eureka-flag.
David Harrison, 19 November 2013
This proposed bounty is an initiative of Nigel Morris of the Australian Flag
Society (AFS).
The mystery Union Jack at the Eureka Stockade was
reported by one of the newspapers at the time, "The Argus", though no other
reports or evidence of its existence has come to light, despite Mr Morris'
promotion of the flag, mainly through Wikipedia.
The Australian
journalist, writer and former Rugby Union player, Peter FitzSimons wrote the
book "Eureka: The Unfinished Revolution", published in 2012. During the writing
of the book, Mr Morris contacted FitzSimons to inform him about the Union Jack
reference in the Argus report. FitzSimons referred to it in Footnote 56 of
Chapter Thirteen in the following manner:
"In my opinion, this report of
the Union Jack being on the same flagpole as the flag of the Southern Cross is
not credible. There is no independent corroborating report in any other
newspaper, letter, diary or book, and one would have expected Raffaello Carboni,
for one, to have mentioned it had that been the case. The paintings of the flag
ceremony and battle by Charles Doudiet, who was in Ballarat at the time, depicts
no Union Jack. During the trial for High Treason, the flying of the Southern
Cross was an enormous issue, yet no mention was ever made of the Union Jack
flying beneath."
Ralph Kelly, 20 November 2013
