Science offers a way to settle Australia’s flag debate
Australians have been debating whether to change their national flag for over a decade. Those in favor argue that the Union Jack is a relic of the British imperial era. On top of that, the flag fails to even acknowledge the historical presence of Australia’s indigenous Aboriginal population, proponents say. AusFlag, an organization lobbying for a ...
Australians have been debating whether to change their national flag for over a decade. Those in favor argue that the Union Jack is a relic of the British imperial era. On top of that, the flag fails to even acknowledge the historical presence of Australia's indigenous Aboriginal population, proponents say. AusFlag, an organization lobbying for a flag change, also highlights the unoriginal nature of Australia's flag, given that it's almost identical to New Zealand's. More recently, critics have argued that Australia's flag is now associated with racism against Australia's immigrant populations, with the organizers of one of Australia's biggest outdoor music festivals, the "Big Day Out" in Sydney, discouraging people from bearing the flag for that reason.
Australians have been debating whether to change their national flag for over a decade. Those in favor argue that the Union Jack is a relic of the British imperial era. On top of that, the flag fails to even acknowledge the historical presence of Australia’s indigenous Aboriginal population, proponents say. AusFlag, an organization lobbying for a flag change, also highlights the unoriginal nature of Australia’s flag, given that it’s almost identical to New Zealand’s. More recently, critics have argued that Australia’s flag is now associated with racism against Australia’s immigrant populations, with the organizers of one of Australia’s biggest outdoor music festivals, the “Big Day Out” in Sydney, discouraging people from bearing the flag for that reason.
Now, it seems, researchers at Pennsylvania’s Swarthmore College are offering a way to settle the debate. It turns out that the Southern Cross, which is featured prominently on the Australian flag (and on the flags of Brazil, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Samoa), has an extra star. Perhaps now Australians will be able to agree that the flag really is out of date.
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