The Australian Aboriginal Flag represents Aboriginal Australians. It is one of the officially proclaimed flags of Australia, by which it has special legal and political status together with the national flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag, with which it is often flown.The flag was designed in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist who is descended from the Luritja people of Central Australia. Thomas held the intellectual property rights to the flag's design until January 2022, when he transferred the copyright to the Commonwealth government. The flag was designed for the land rights movement and became a symbol of Aboriginal people of Australia.
The flag is horizontally and equally divided into a black region (above) and a red region (below); a yellow disc is superimposed over the centre of the flag. The overall proportions of the flag, as proclaimed, are 2:3; however, the flag is often reproduced in the proportions 1:2 as with the Australian National Flag.
1971Jul, 12
The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
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Events on 1971
- 8Jan
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh. - 7Jun
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. - 11Jul
Chile
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. - 21Sep
Bhutan
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. - 24Nov
D. B. Cooper
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.