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Sydney : The Australian government said on Tuesday that it had bought rights to the Aboriginal flag, allowing it to be freely used after a business battle prevented athletic teams and Aboriginal communities from recreating it.
Since 1995, the Aboriginal flag has been recognised as an official Australian flag, flying from government buildings and being adopted by athletic groups.
On the eve of Australia Day, the government announced that the flag can be used without permission or payment of a price on sports shirts, sporting grounds, websites, and in artworks thanks to a settlement made with its originator, indigenous artist Harold Thomas.
Thomas claimed he initially constructed the black, yellow, and red flag to lead a demonstration in 1971, and it has since become a symbol of indigenous togetherness and pride, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
In a statement, he stated, “The flag signifies our land’s eternal heritage and our people’s time on it.”
The government has paid Thomas $20 million and terminated licences held by a small group of enterprises that had sparked outrage by demanding payment for the flag’s reproduction since 2018.
According to a 2020 parliamentary inquiry, the licence holder demanded money from health organisations and sporting clubs, which might lead to communities abandoning the flag in order to avoid legal action.
A “Free the Flag” campaign was led by prominent Aboriginal Australians, including Olympian Nova Peris.
The flag, according to Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, has become an enduring symbol for Aboriginal people.
“We marched under the Aboriginal flag, stood behind it, and flew it aloft as a matter of pride throughout the last 50 years,” he said in a statement.
“Now that the Commonwealth owns the copyright, it belongs to everyone and no one can take it away from them.”
Australia Day celebrations, which include a national public holiday on Jan. 26, have sparked controversy among indigenous Australians, who believe the date commemorates Britain’s invasion of their continent.
Despite encountering settlements, a British force went into Sydney Harbour in 1788 to establish a prison colony.
The question of whether the national holiday should be moved to a different day has been debated.
