Great question! We have a full page dedicated to that answer here: https://auflag.org/international-context.

It is a great thing that everyone can have their own opinions, views, & beliefs in our democracy. People may disagree, & that is okay.

The Progress & Unity Flag simply answers the question: ‘If a vote was held, whatever the reason, what would our national flag look like if we took what works about our current national symbols to make the flag even better?’.”

Why are we settling for 'good enough' when we can strive for greatness as a nation?

We owe it to ourselves to expect that same greatness from our national symbols.

This design & proposal delivers on that promise; such that, whenever a national flag plebiscite is held for whatever reason, the Progress & Unity Flag is a worthy successor to be the next Australian National Flag. A flag inspiring patriotism among all Australians.

It has often frustrated me that we as a people are so beholden to tall poppy syndrome & quick to reject even the discussion of new ideas. If anything it is unpatriotic to be closed off to discussing our most important national symbol, particularly when it is so clear the current flag can be improved upon as the Progress & Unity Flag demonstrates through equal representation of all Australians & added meaningful symbolism (such as with the Red of this flag serving to honour all who shed blood for this nation).

Good question. That is something I do not yet have an answer for.

Opinions?: Yes.
An answer?: No.

My short response is "not yet", since all Australians need to be aligned on the reason for having the vote & I don't believe enough of the public is on the same page yet (despite there being some good arguments for change). What exactly that reason is (the 'why'), which could even be the unifying argument that all sides of the social & political spectrum can get behind, is still a question that I am working on answering myself.

To expand on the above 'short response', there are still lots of details that need to be ironed out before we can even begin to answer this properly.

For instance, I would argue that even people supportive of a vote would reject the idea, or at least raise serious concerns, if the vote was held in the same manner as the New Zealand Flag Referendum. This being because the NZ vote had distasteful political motivation, ran an awful process, & ended up with many uninspiring (often very similar) final designs chosen by committee.

For a vote to be successful we have to ask the following questions:

• Why is it being held?

• How will it be held?

• When will it be held? (admittedly an easier question, unless you suggest a date like Christmas or Australia Day), &

• What designs are we voting on?

This proposal, the Progress & Unity Flag, is only an answer to that last question (the 'what').

Yes, the Progress & Unity Flag is a strong candidate to be our next national flag; but the proposal makes no claim to answer any of those other questions, let alone the ultimate question of if we are ready as a nation to hold a national flag vote.

A long winded explanation, but one that is needed since (in my view) you're actually asking four questions at once.

I'll get back to you (via a post on this page) if I come up with answers to the 'why', 'how', & 'when'.

Rest assured, if I do, those answers will seek to be very well thought-out & as apolitical as humanly possible.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia, & pay our respects to their Elders past & present.

As part of this design, we extend this same respect to all First Nations Peoples & intend for our national flag proposal to represent our Traditional Custodians as much as any other Australian.

Each colour & symbol on the Progress & Unity Flag is intended to hold equal & significant meaning to all peoples of our great nation.

No, our stance is that each of those are separate topics in their own right & should remain separate to any discussion on the national flag. We hold no views on those topics as part of this proposal.

Plenty of other countries have changed their own national flags without feeling the need to change their other national symbols, public holidays, or the way in which their country is run. Australian can & will be able to do the same.

Any attempt to bring those topics into a discussion about the national flag is either misguided (e.g. wrongfully falling for the 'slippery slope fallacy') or a deliberate attempt to hijack the conversation for personal/political gain (often either calling for a radical overhaul of all our national symbols, or intentionally diminishing the impact of a national flag proposal because it 'should be' discussed in the context of those other topics).

This isn't to say that proponents of new Australian National Flag designs haven't conflated two or more of these topics together within their own ANF proposals. Rather the opposite is true in so many cases; & is precisely why this proposal (the Progress & Unity Flag design) steers well clear of those other topics, because they are & should be separate discussions.