One mans thuggery is another mans freedom!...been a constant battle for time and memorial....
Beat me to it Mike
Always find it funny people bashing unions, but love their living wage, 38 hour week,sick leave, long services leave, parental leave, unfair dismissal, service pay, redundancy pay... eh Unions who needs them......
What have we done to earn the right to change the flag that others fought for?[/QUOTE]
Kunama , you do understand that the national anthem was "god save the Queen" during WW 1 & 2... so by your logic it was wrong to change it to Advance Australia fair.
Once you accept that these changes are ok, will you also accept that the next generation may change it to reflect what they think is appropriate and forget about any historical significance, a slippery slope comes to mind.....
Hmmm
The original thought process was that only Australia and New Zealand, of all the original British Commonwealth nations retain the Union Jack on their flag. All the others, India, Canada, South Africa etc. have adopted a unique flag which they feel represents their independent country to the world.
I think our time has come.
The "people died under it" argument holds even less water when you consider that we have more than one flag and the one many people identified with was the red ensign, not the blue ensign we commonly see today.
Well, they certainly didn't die fighting over the flag design. They died for who & what the Australian flag represents. Change the design and it stull represents Australia.
I would say most people are quite happy with the flag we have.
It is only when people start rattling the can and beating the drum
that any one even thinks about it.
NZ just proved that the empty cans makes the loudest noise, even their prime minister couldn't get the change the flag vote across the line, and he was the instigator of the flag change.
Leave the flag alone, I am proud of it, in fact I have it flying above my observatory.
Cheers
could have been Dutch as they were here before Cpt. COOK
The English bloke who 'discovered' the east coast of what is now Australia was Lieutenant James Cook. For his second great voyage he was promoted to Commander and it was not until his third (and final) voyage that he was promoted to 'Post-Captain'. Generations of schoolchildren have been mislead because of the appeal of an alliteration on the letter 'C'.
I would say most people are quite happy with the flag we have.
It is only when people start rattling the can and beating the drum
that any one even thinks about it.
NZ just proved that the empty can makes the loudest noise, even their prime minister couldn't get the change the flag vote across the line, and he was the instigator of the flag change. Leave the flag alone, I am proud of it, in fact I have it flying above my observatory.
Cheers
Hmmm
The original thought process was that only Australia and New Zealand, of all the original British Commonwealth nations retain the Union Jack on their flag. All the others, India, Canada, South Africa etc. have adopted a unique flag which they feel represents their independent country to the world.
I think our time has come.
Hawaii is a state of the United States of America, and it still retains the "Union Jack" as part of it's flag.
Cheers
The English bloke who 'discovered' the east coast of what is now Australia was Lieutenant James Cook. For his second great voyage he was promoted to Commander and it was not until his third (and final) voyage that he was promoted to 'Post-Captain'. Generations of schoolchildren have been mislead because of the appeal of an alliteration on the letter 'C'.
It really doesn't make any difference as to what rank he was,that is unless you are a bloke who was on who wants to be a millionaire and got the answer wrong.
It cost him a lot of money if I remember correctly.
Cheers
Kunama , you do understand that the national anthem was "god save the Queen" during WW 1 & 2... so by your logic it was wrong to change it to Advance Australia fair.
As a pommie, I've found this pretty interesting reading
One observation in particular that strikes me is that some folk feel that there's an Australian identity that is struggling to step out from behind the 'colonial' flag.
But here's the thing...there is no empire. The colonial days are long gone. Many countries are allies, as Australia/NZ are with the UK and USA.
If you ask people on the street in the UK about Australia, what comes to mind is this awesome sun-drenched land, full of spirit and adventure. There's no sense colonialism. We speak (more or less!) the same language and there's some not insignificant common heritage, and generally a sense of friendliness.
All the Australians I ever met before moving here were all larger than life, proud Australians full of the spirit of Australia. Believe me, the Australian identity as perceived from abroad is not a slave to any flag!
It's not for me to say either way, but I could probably come up with some pretty interesting suggestions in particular, I like the crest of the Australian government, but I'm sure that'd go down like a lead balloon
It really doesn't make any difference as to what rank he was,that is unless you are a bloke who was on who wants to be a millioner and got the answer wrong.
Cheers
The rank of James Cook is one of those misconceptions that crops up often enough to annoy someone who cares for facts. A bigger issue is when people are willing to say 'Captain Cook' even once they know that to be false. What surety could such a person offer for the veracity of any of their subsequent statements?
BTW Is there really a show about people who want to make hats??
A flag is not for those that fought and died "under it" ..??? that's plain crazy, rather it is to stand for a nation and what it wishes to see itself as and what it wishes to represent. It stands that 50,000 years ago Indonesians walked onto what is now Australia and became Indigenous Australians...
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Sorry Matt but I just don't agree that the flag has anything at all to do with who fought any war while it was our flag design..? It should stand for what we are not what we were
Mike
I'm not sure how that would sit with the diggers that died in Afganistan who wore our flag on their left shoulder, and who's coffins were draped in it upon their return.
I know people who have fought for this country and our flag is important to them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by astroron
I would say most people are quite happy with the flag we have.
It is only when people start rattling the can and beating the drum
that any one even thinks about it.
NZ just proved that the empty cans makes the loudest noise, even their prime minister couldn't get the change the flag vote across the line, and he was the instigator of the flag change.
Leave the flag alone, I am proud of it, in fact I have it flying above my observatory.
Cheers
Totally agree. Love it. Leave it. Don't turn it into a fashion statement.
in particular, I like the crest of the Australian government, but I'm sure that'd go down like a lead balloon 
