Who designed the Aboriginal flag?

The Australian Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, a Luritja man and the first Aboriginal Australian to graduate from an art school. He created the flag in 1971 for use in protests around the issue of land rights, and it was first flown publicly at Victoria Square in Adelaide on National Aborigines Day on 9 July 1971.

Thomas designed the flag in three colours and three horizontal elements: a black upper half, a red lower half, and a yellow sun circle in the centre. He intended the flag to be a striking and easily recognisable symbol that Aboriginal people could carry into marches and rallies. It was used heavily during the campaign for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy outside Old Parliament House in Canberra, established on Australia Day 1972.

The flag was given legal recognition under the Flags Act 1953 by proclamation of Governor-General Bill Hayden on 14 July 1995, making it one of the official flags of Australia alongside the National Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag, and the flags of the Australian Defence Force. Thomas continued to hold copyright over the design until 25 January 2022, when the Australian Government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, paid him 20.05 million dollars in a settlement that placed the flag in the public domain and removed all licensing restrictions.

Today the Aboriginal Flag is flown alongside the National Flag at most government buildings, schools, sporting fixtures, and public events. It is also widely worn, painted, and displayed as a symbol of solidarity and identity. Harold Thomas, born in 1947, continues to live in Darwin and remains the recognised author of the design. The 2022 buyout was unusual in flag history and made the Aboriginal Flag the only Australian flag to have once been protected by individual copyright.