Thinking of changing the Australian Flag? Well some others...

Thinking of changing the Australian Flag? Well some others have.... and here is the proposal.

Australian flag merchandise is filling shops in the lead-up to Australia Day but an Australian academic believes the design on those bikinis and stubby holders should be different.

Australian National University academic Dr John Blaxland has revealed a new design that incorporates the current Australian flag, the Union Jack and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.

So far he's had a mixed reaction from people who've seen it but Dr Blaxland says it's bound to be controversial because it combines so many different elements.

"The simple designs that we've tried in the past haven't stirred the imagination," he told AAP.

"They just haven't evoked that strong sense of attachment of identity that really needs to work for a new Australian flag to capture people's imagination."

The sixth-generation Australian wanted to acknowledge all aspects of the country's history from the indigenous people through the British colonial period to modern, multicultural Australia.

"People can identify with various parts of it and see that Australia is actually a multicultural place with a rich history that reaches back for generations," he said.

His design starts with the black and red of the Aboriginal flag but replaces the sun with the seven-pointed Federation Star.

It is filled with 250 dots to represent the range of indigenous languages combined with the native tongues of immigrants.

Dr Blaxland hopes this representation of the Federation Star could become as strong a symbol of Australia as the red maple leaf is for Canada.

Next to the star is a red boomerang, bordered with a white stripe that flows on to the blue background of the rest of the flag.

This creates "an echo" of the Union Jack, which Dr Blaxland wanted to be represented on the flag.

"We can move on, we can reflect on our history but also acknowledge in the design ... that we can't completely trash the British heritage," he told AAP.

"By subtly acknowledging it there with the boomerang, the white and the blue, we're giving the recognition it deserves while also placing at the front the history and heritage of Aboriginal Australia."

The Southern Cross of the current flag is kept on the blue background, but the stars become green and gold to represent the modern, independent and multicultural country.

Dr Blaxland worked with graphic artist Sancho Murphy to refine his design.

He hopes that revealing his new design around Australia Day will generate interest and momentum for change.

Dr Blaxland believes the centenary of Anzac Day in 2015 is an appropriate time to change the flag, reflecting a mature nation.

The Howard government passed legislation in 1998 to require any new flag design to go to a plebiscite, where a majority of Australians would have to vote in favour for it to be adopted.

At the time the republican movement was prominent and the third flag design competition run by AusFlag was in progress.
In a television interview during the 1998 election, John Howard said he believed the Australian flag was beautiful and he wanted to keep it.

Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/queensland/a/-/newshome/15941287/mature-australia-needs-new-flag-academic/