Australia Flag & Facts

Flag Facts: Australia

Population: 22,992,654

Capital: Canberra

Government: Parliamentary democracy  under a constitutional monarchy (The United Kingdom)

National Holiday: Australia Day, January 26 – Commemorates the arrival of the first fleet of Australian Settlers in 1788.

National Symbols: The Southern Cross constellation, the kangaroo, and the emu.

The Australian flag is blue featuring the UK flag in the upper left corner and a seven-pointed star in the lower left corner, known as the Commonwealth or Federation Star. The Southern Cross constellation is depicted on the right side of the flag with a small, five-pointed star and four larger, seven-pointed stars.

Commonwealth or Federation Star: Six points represent the six original states in the Australian colonies of 1901 and one point represents all of Australia’s internal and external territories.

 Southern Cross Constellation: white; one small 5-pointed star and four larger 7-pointed star.

Did you know…

More than half of Australia’s land is used for agriculture despite being the driest inhabitable continent on Earth.

Source: The CIA World Factbook