03/09/2026
Today, Australian marks the 125th anniversary of a remarkable moment in our national story.
On 3 September 1901, Prime Minister Edmund Barton announced the five joint winners of the competition to design a flag for the newly federated Commonwealth of Australia. A large version of the winning design was then flown over the dome of Melbourne's Exhibition Building, where the competition entries were on display.
Australia had federated only eight months earlier, on 1 January 1901. The Constitution had created a new Commonwealth, the first Federal Parliament had opened in May, and Australians were giving expression to their new political union through national institutions and symbols.
The flag flown in September 1901 was the design from which today's Australian National Flag developed. Its history would continue through royal approval, parliamentary action and, eventually, the Flags Act 1953.
In 1996, 3 September was officially proclaimed Australian National Flag Day, commemorating its first flying in 1901.
