How many points has the Commonwealth Star?

The Commonwealth Star on the Australian flag has seven points. Six of the points represent the six states that federated in 1901, and the seventh represents the territories of Australia, including the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, together with any future states the Commonwealth might admit.

The seven-pointed design was not the original. When the flag was first approved in 1903, the Federation Star had only six points, one for each of the founding states: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. The seventh point was added in 1908 to recognise the federal territories that the Commonwealth had begun to administer in its own right, including Papua, which Australia had taken over from Britain in 1906.

The Commonwealth Star sits directly below the Union Jack in the lower half of the canton, in the prime position on the flag closest to the pole. It appears in white on the blue field, and its seven points distinguish it clearly from the stars of the Southern Cross on the right-hand side of the flag, which are mostly seven-pointed except for the smallest, Epsilon Crucis, which has five.

The same Commonwealth Star appears on the Australian coat of arms, where it sits above the shield. It is also stamped on Australian fifty-cent coins, on the badges of all branches of the Australian Defence Force, and on the rank insignia of senior officers in the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, and Royal Australian Air Force. Knowing the star has seven points and knowing why is one of the more commonly tested facts on the citizenship test.