Two patriotic Orbost residents were given a surprise National Flag Day gift with new Australian flags to fly from the front yards of their homes.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester paid a personal visit to the homes of 98-year-old Bob Trewin and 92-year-old Ray Paten.
“Local resident Peter Morrison had contacted my office and told us the flags were a bit wind-torn and could we send some replacements?” Mr Chester said.
“It was great to visit and catch up with Bob and Ray who now have brand new flags flying proudly at their homes.”
To commemorate the day on which the Australian National Flag was first flown, September 3 of each year is officially recognised as Australian National Flag Day.
Upon federation in 1901, Australia’s first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton, announced an international competition to design a flag for the new Commonwealth of Australia. There were 32,823 entries, of which five nearly identical designs were awarded equal first.
The prize money of £200 was divided among the winners: Annie Dorrington from Perth, who became quite a well-known artist; Ivor Evans from Melbourne, a 14-year-old school boy whose father owned a flag-making business; Leslie Hawkins, a teenager from Leichhardt in New South Wales; Egbert Nuttall, from Prahran in Victoria; and William Stevens, First Officer in the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand.
The Australian Flag was flown for the first time on September 3 1901, the day on which the then Prime Minister announced the five joint competition winners. It was flown over the dome of the Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which was the then seat of the federal government.
“Today a massive version of the flag flies on top of Parliament House in Canberra and I always enjoy spotting it out the windows from various angles as I move around the building for work,” Mr Chester said.
