Protecting Our National Flag
Australian National Flag Association
Mission Statement
ANFA Victoria is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, volunteer organisation dedicated to promoting and defending the Australian National Flag as our foremost national symbol. We strive to preserve the flag in its historic design and to foster respect, pride, and understanding of all that the flag represents – our history, traditions, and the shared values of the Australian people. ANFA Victoria provides educational resources and events to celebrate the flag’s significance, supports “fly the flag” programs in the community, and encourages all Australians to proudly keep the flag flying.
Our History
Founded in 1983, the Australian National Flag Association of Victoria formed in response to growing public desire to protect the Australian National Flag in its present form. In its inaugural newsletter, ANFA Victoria’s founding Chairman reflected that “a year has now passed since the formation of the Australian National Flag Association of Victoria. It has been a year of quiet achievement, setting into motion our aims and objectives for the retention of the Australian National Flag in its present form.” Early support for the new Victorian branch was enthusiastic and widespread, drawing members from all walks of life who were passionate about preserving our flag and heritage.
Today, over 40 years since its founding, ANFA Victoria remains true to its core purpose: to ensure the Australian National Flag is accorded the honour and appreciation it deserves. The Association continues to be run entirely by volunteers drawn from the community.
Through its ongoing efforts – from lobbying for the flag’s protection, to organising commemorations like National Flag Day, to simply encouraging everyday Australians to fly the flag at home – ANFA Victoria upholds the ideal expressed at its inception: “One people, one nation, one flag.
Key Moments In ANFA Victoria’s History
1983: ANFA Victoria is established, with Ross Watson, OAM, serving as the founding Chairman. From the outset, the Association’s goal is clear: to represent the majority of Australians who wish to preserve and protect our National Flag.
1984: In its first full year, ANFA Victoria undertakes a major petition campaign calling for no change to Australia’s flag without the people’s consent. Thousands of petitions are printed and circulated statewide with the message: “We demand no change to our National Flag without a referendum.” This grassroots effort foreshadowed later legal protections requiring a public vote for any flag change. In June 1984, ANFA Victoria also built community partnerships – for example, Melbourne Legacy became a corporate member of ANFA Victoria. A certificate dated 6 June 1984 (signed by ANFA Victoria’s Chairman, Mr. Bruce Ruxton, OBE) was presented to Legacy, recognising its “positive contribution to preserving the Australian Flag”.
1980s: Through the late 1980s, ANFA Victoria expanded its outreach and advocacy. The Association actively promoted the flag in schools, community events, and public institutions. Educational brochures and literature were produced to instill “respect for and pride in our National Flag and all it represents – pride in the nation which our forebears created…” (as stated in an early ANFA message). A notable event was a collaboration with Melbourne Legacy to distribute miniature Australian flags to schoolchildren and ANZAC Day marchers. In a 1988 ceremony, ANFA Victoria President Ross Watson presented Legacy widows with a framed certificate “to mark the splendid work of Melbourne Legacy Widows in attaching miniature Australian flags to thousands of sprigs of rosemary prepared for Anzac Day.”
1990s: During the 1990s, ANFA Victoria stood at the forefront of efforts to discourage any change to the national flag amid republican debates and design-change campaigns. By the mid-1990s, public discussion about removing the Union Jack from the flag or adopting a new design was intensifying. ANFA Victoria joined the chorus of Australians “determined to prevent change to the flag” and to educate the community about the flag’s heritage. A major milestone came in 1996, when the Australian government heeded these sentiments: on 28 August 1996, Governor-General Sir William Deane officially proclaimed 3 September as Australian National Flag Day, an annual day to celebrate the first raising of our flag in 1901. In 1998, further success followed: the Federal Parliament passed an amendment to the Flags Act 1953 stipulating that the Australian National Flag “cannot be changed in any way without a national vote of the people.” This entrenched in law the principle ANFA Victoria had championed since its founding – that Australians themselves must approve any alteration to their flag.
2001: On 3 September 2001, the nation celebrated the centenary of the Australian National Flag. ANFA Victoria played a proud role in the official 100th anniversary ceremony held in Melbourne – the city where the flag was first flown in 1901. A large public event took place at the Royal Exhibition Building (the very site of the original flag raising), attended by the Prime Minister and Governor-General among other dignitaries. Prime Minister John Howard addressed a crowd in the Exhibition Building’s forecourt, noting the historic significance of that day in 1901 when “a large flag, 5.5 by 11 metres, was flown over the dome of the Exhibition Building” to inaugurate our national flag. He paid tribute to the flag as “a familiar and powerful image, and a focus for national pride,” and reiterated the government’s commitment to protect it. This event was a high point for ANFA Victoria, highlighting the success of its mission to ensure the Australian Flag’s honoured place in our civic life.
2000s to Today: In the new millennium, ANFA Victoria has continued its active engagement in education and celebration of the flag. The Association regularly promotes Australian National Flag Day (3 September) each year and encourages schools, local councils, and community groups to hold flag-raising ceremonies on that day. It has collaborated with other organisations to provide flags and educational talks to schools, often emphasising that the Australian flag “is our most visible tradition – fly it proudly.” ANFA Victoria members often attend public events on Australia Day (26 January), ANZAC Day (25 April), and Remembrance Day (11 November), supporting displays of the flag and explaining its history to younger generations.
