What is national identity?

National identity in Australia is the shared sense of being Australian that links 26 million people across a continent of more than seven million square kilometres. It blends elements of Indigenous heritage, British colonial inheritance, post-war immigration from Europe, and recent migration from Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East, producing a country that is both old and new, settled and still becoming.

The official symbols of identity include the flag, the coat of arms, the national anthem, the green and gold colours, the kangaroo and emu, and the golden wattle. Less formal markers include sporting culture (cricket, the AFL, the NRL, swimming, surfing), food traditions (the BBQ, the meat pie, vegemite, pavlova), and the unique language of Australian English, with its distinctive vocabulary and rising intonation. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags, recognised under the Flags Act 1953, now sit alongside the national flag at most public ceremonies.

Several values are widely cited as central to Australian national identity. Mateship, the loyalty between friends and comrades, traces back to the Anzac tradition and the bush myth. A fair go, the principle that everyone should get an equal chance regardless of background, anchors much of the country's social policy language. Egalitarianism, scepticism of pretension, and a wry sense of humour are also commonly cited features of the national character. These values are reflected in the Australian Citizenship Pledge that new citizens recite at their ceremony.

National identity in Australia is not static. The 1967 referendum that recognised Aboriginal people in the Constitution, the 1975 creation of the Order of Australia, the 1984 adoption of Advance Australia Fair, the 1986 Australia Acts that ended residual British legal powers, the 1992 Mabo decision that ended terra nullius, the 2008 National Apology to the Stolen Generations, and the 2023 Voice referendum (defeated 60.1 per cent No) all reshaped what Australians understand about themselves and the country they share.