The Great Australian (Flag) Ugliness

Calling the Australian Flag ugly and irrelevant should not be controversial, but some people need to fight a culture war about everything.

In the musical film, "1776" there is a scene where Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams discuss what bird should be the symbol of the United States. After Adams forcefully suggests the eagle Franklin responds:

"The eagle is a scavanger a thief and a coward. A symbol of over 10 centuries of European mischief."

So it is with the Union Jack, and the Australian flag. While it may have been acceptable, and almost expected, to have the Union Jack in pride of place in 1901 when Australia was a mere British Colony, and even when this country was a Dominion, the time of the Union Jack flying over this Southern Continent has long passed. It was always an ugly design, but it is now an irrelevant relic too.

A flag that doesn't represent its country is not worth the dye used in its construction.

We are not a European Power. And we need to move beyond our Euro-centric and British-centric roots. By continuing to display the Union Jack we are promoting a foreign power. We are promoting a history full of "European Mischief."

The flag itself represents an entity that is falling apart, with Scotland and Northern Ireland seemingly on the cusp of leaving the UK. It fails to represent Wales. If it can't even properly represent its original country, how exactly can it represent modern Australia?

Britain was a scavanger and a thief when its flag was put in the corner of the Australian flag. We must move beyond that. We must move beyond our ugliness.

We must have a new flag.