The current state flag of Tasmania was officially adopted following a proclamation by Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld on 25 September 1876, and was first published in the Tasmanian Gazette the same day. The governor's proclamation here were three official flags, they being the Governor's flag, the Tasmania Government vessel flag, and a Tasmania merchant flag. Up until 1856 when Tasmania was granted responsible self-government, the Union Flag and the British ensign were primarily used on state occasions.

The flag consists of a defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge is a white disk with a red lion passant in the centre of the disk. There is no official record of how the lion came to be included on the flag, but it is assumed that the red lion is a reference to Great Britain. This flag has remained almost unchanged since 1875, with only a slight change of the style of the lion when the flag was officially adopted by the government in 1975, although this was a mistake, as it had already been officially gazetted by the colonial government in 1876. Prior to the official adoption of a local flag, an unofficial merchant ensign was occasionally used:<gallery mode="packed" widths="220" heights="110">

File:Van Diemen's Land Unofficial Merchant Ensign before 1875.svg| Ensign of Van Diemen's Land

</gallery>

The first local flag of Tasmania was adopted by proclamation of Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld on 9 November 1875. The flag had a white cross on a blue field, in the canton was the Union Flag, and in the fly was five five-pointed stars of the Southern Cross. The British Blue Ensign and Red Ensign (for use respectively by government vessels and by those privately owned) were to have a white cross added. At the fly end of each flag, a Southern Cross was to be formed of white stars added above and below the horizontal arm of the cross. Two weeks later, on 23 November, those flags were officially abandoned because Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London made it clear that only a single badge could be placed at the fly end of the ensign, as set out by rule of the British Admiralty.

thumb|An amateur proposal for replacing the State Flag of Tasmania. It features a prominent floral emblem and important monofloral honey species, [[Eucryphia lucida | leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida).]]The impetus to change the state flag is a part of the broader push to change the national flag of Australia.

On 8 June 2020, online news website Tasmanian Times launched a public competition calling for designs to replace the existing flag.

Devices

The flag of Tasmania has two distinct symbols, the Union Flag (also known as the Union Jack), and the State Badge of Tasmania.

As with the flag of Australia, the Union Flag is thought locally to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based, Australian Flag Society although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire.

Construction

Unlike the national flag, the flag of Tasmania is not enshrined and protected by any acts of state or Commonwealth government. As a result, there are no official legal requirements for the construction of the flag of Tasmania. However, tradition and decorum dictate that is should be:

  1. the Union Jack occupying the upper quarter next the staff;
  2. the fly is to be wholly blue, in line with the British Blue Ensign;
  3. the State Badge is to be situated with its centre halfway between the edge of the canton and the end of the fly, and a third of the distance from the bottom of the flag;

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Badge of Tasmania.svg|State badge of Tasmania

</gallery>

Colours

The colours of the flag, although not specified by the Flags Act, have been given the same Pantone specifications as the national flag. The Australian Government's Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers also gives CMYK and RGB specifications for depicting the flag in print and on screen respectively.

{| class=wikitable width=60% style="text-align:center;"

|-

! Scheme

!style="background-color: #00008B; color: #FFFFFF"| Blue

!style="background-color: #FF0000; color: #FFFFFF"| Red

!style="background-color: #FFFFFF"| White

|-

| Pantone || 280 C || 185 C || Safe

|-

| RGB<br />(Hex)|| 0-0-139<br />(#00008B) || 255-0-0<br />(#FF0000) || 255-255-255<br />(#FFFFFF)

|-

| CMYK || 100%-80%-0%-0% || 0%-100%-100%-0% || 0%-0%-0%-0%

|}

Governor's flag

The Governor of Tasmania, being the representative of the Tasmanian head of state, the King of Australia, is officially granted a flag for use on all official occasions. It is identical in design and construction to the flag of Tasmania, except that it features a St. Edward's Crown above the badge to represent vice-regal power.

When the Governor of Tasmania is resident at Government House it is flown from the roof, and it is also used as a car flag. The Governor of Tasmania's flag was officially adopted in February 1977 by an act of the Parliament of Tasmania.

See also

  • Coat of arms of Tasmania
  • List of Australian flags
  • Flags of the governors of the Australian states

Notes