Australia’s Parliament House was at the centre of an awkward flag mix-up after two New Zealand flags were mistakenly included in a display celebrating Australia’s national flag on Thursday.
According to a report by 1News, the display at Capital Hill in Canberra featured 44 flags to mark the anniversary of the first official flying of the Australian flag. However, two New Zealand flags were accidentally included, apparently due to the similarities between the two designs.
The New Zealand flag features four five-pointed red stars with white borders representing the Southern Cross. Australia’s flag has six white stars representing the Southern Cross and the Commonwealth Star.
Australia held a competition in 1900 to select a national flag and received more than 30,000 entries. Most designs featured the Union Jack and Southern Cross, as reported by 1News.
The winning design was first flown on September 3, 1901, before being formally adopted under the Flags Act in 1954.
New Zealand’s flag was officially recognised in 1902 under the New Zealand Ensign Act.
According to 1News, the similarity between the two flags has been a long-running source of debate. In 2018, then-Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters accused Australia of copying New Zealand’s design.
“We had a flag that we’ve had for a long time, copied by Australia, and they should actually change their flag and honour the fact that we got there first with this design,” Peters said, as quoted by 1News.
The display was organised to commemorate 125 years since the Australian national flag was first flown.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said, “Today the flag flies above Parliament House, and alongside the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag, in both chambers of Parliament,” as quoted by 1News.
The department did not mention the New Zealand flags in its statement.
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