Aboriginal flag is the flag of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. The Aboriginal people are descendants of the first inhabitants of the continent. The lower half of the Aboriginal flag is red, representing the earth. The upper half of the flag is black, symbolizing Aboriginal people walking on the land. A yellow circle at the flag’s center stands for the sun, the giver of life and the protector. Aboriginal art commonly used the colors red and yellow. Artists traditionally made the colors from ochre, a type of clay.
Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist, designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971. Thomas created the flag as a symbol of national identity and unity for Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. The flag was first flown at Victoria Square in the city of Adelaide during National Aborigines Day on July 12, 1971.
In 1972, a group of Aboriginal protesters set up an Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital. The protesters wanted recognition of Aboriginal land rights. The protesters chose Thomas’s flag design as one of the flags to fly over the Tent Embassy. The flag’s acceptance among Aboriginal groups soon grew. The Australian government officially recognized the Aboriginal flag as a flag of Australia in 1995.
