Did you know that Australia has a number of external territories: Coral Sea Islands, Ashmore
and Cartier Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard Island and McDonald Islands,
Keeling Islands, Norfolk Island and Christmas Island. But only the last three of these have
flags and in this video, we are going to take a look at them.
The Territory of the Cocos or Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia, located in the
Indian Ocean, southwest of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia
and Sri Lanka. It’s population is only roughly 600 people.
The flag of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands was designed in 2003 and the flag was adopted
in April 2004. The flag is green, with a palm tree on a gold
circle in the canton, a gold crescent moon in the centre and a gold stars known as the
southern cross to the right (the fly). The palm tree represents the islands' tropical
flora; the colours are Australia's national colours; the crescent represents Islam, the
religion of the Cocos Malays who make up a majority of the population; and the Southern
Cross is a symbol of Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand,
and New Caledonia, 1,412 kilometres (877 mi) directly east of mainland Australia. Together
with two neighbouring islands, it forms one of Australia's external territories. It has
1,796 inhabitants and Its capital is called Kingston.
The flag of Norfolk Island was approved by the Norfolk Island Council on 6 June 1979.
It became the official flag on the commencement date of the Norfolk Island Flag and Public
Seal Act January 1980. The flag depicts the Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla)
in a central white stripe between two green stripes. the Norfolk Island Pine tree has
been used a s symbol for the territory since the 1800s and is naturally symbolic of the
Green Norfolk Island pines indigenous to the island.
While the green stripes in the Norfolk Island Flag stands for the rich vegetation that found
here. Christmas Island, or officially the Territory
of Christmas Island, is located in the Indian Ocean, 1,550 kilometres (960 mi) north-west
of the Australian mainland. Christmas Island has a population of just over 2,000 residents,
the majority of whom live in settlements on the northern tip of the island.
The flag of Christmas Island was unofficially adopted in 1986 after being chosen the winner
in a competition for a flag for the territory. The flag was made official on Australia Day,
2002 when the administrator of the territory presented the flag to the Christmas Island
Shire. The flag of Christmas Island consists of a
green and blue background, split the top left corner to the bottom right. These colours
are intended to represent the land and sea. The Southern Cross constellation appears in
the bottom left of the flag in the same manner as it appears on the flag of Australia. In
the top right, the golden bosun bird appears. It is considered to be a symbol of the Island.
The last design appears in the centre of the flag on a golden disc is the map of the island
in green. The disc itself was originally only included to offset the green colour of the
map, but has somehow become linked to the mining industry.