Did you know ... that the Aboriginal Australian flag flew for the first time, in protest, before the Federal Parliament House in Canberra on the 26th of January 1971 on the anniversary of the day Aboriginal people know as Invasion Day – 26th January 1788?
The Aboriginal Australian flag was designed by Aboriginal rights activist Harold Thomas. It flew for the first time, in protest, before the Federal Parliament House in Canberra on the 26th of January 1971 on the anniversary of the day Aboriginal people know as Invasion Day – 26th January 1788.
Captain Cook had been instructed by the Crown in the discovery of land to “gain consent of the natives to take possession of convenient situations in the country in the name of the King of Great Britain (King George III)”.
No consent was ever asked for, or ever given. Aboriginal sovereignty has never been ceded.
The original Canberra protest continues uninterrupted today. The National Aboriginal Tent Embassy exercises sovereign rights on behalf of all Aboriginal people of this continent for the sovereignty of Cultural Identity, Self Government, Self Determination and Equality in all areas of government and society based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Beside the Canberra campfire Harold Thomas’ flag still flies … the yellow represents the sun the giver of life, the black represents the people and the red represents the land.
