King's Flag for Australia

The King's Flag for Australia is the flag of Charles III in his role as King of Australia. It is used in a similar way as the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, by signalling the monarch's presence within a building or vehicle in Australia.

History

Queen Elizabeth II was the first Australian monarch to adopt a personal flag for Australia. Her flag was approved for use on 20 September 1962, and used for the first time during the 1963 royal tour. Before this, the British royal standard was used. The personal flag of Queen Elizabeth differed from that of Charles III as it was defaced with a gold seven-pointed federation star with a blue disc containing the letter E below a crown, surrounded by a garland of golden roses. The star represented the states and territories. The blue disc was taken from the Queen's Personal Flag, used by her for duties as Head of the Commonwealth of Nations.
King Charles III similarly adopted an Australian flag to acknowledge his role as King of Australia. It was approved on 30 August 2024 and used for the first time on his inaugural royal tour to the country as monarch in October 2024.

Description

The King's Flag consists of a banner of the device upon the arms of Australia.
Each of the six sections of the flag represents the heraldic badge of the Australian states, and the whole is surrounded by an ermine border representing the federation of the states:

The upper left represents New South Wales and bears a red St George's Cross, upon which is a gold lion in the centre and a gold star on each arm.
The upper middle represents Victoria and contains a crown and five white stars on a blue field.
The upper right represents Queensland and consists of a blue Maltese cross, bearing a crown, on a white field.
The lower left represents South Australia and includes a piping shrike on a gold field.
The lower middle represents Western Australia and consists of a black swan on a gold field with wings up.
The lower right represents Tasmania and contains a red lion on a white field.

Use

The King's Flag for Australia is used when the king is visiting Australia, on Royal Australian Navy vessels, on official buildings, cars and aircraft that the king occupies. When it is flown on or outside a building, it should be the only flag present. The flag has also been used to indicate the symbolic presence of the monarch, such as during presentations of the King's colours during the Trooping the Colour. The king's colours symbolically are equivalent to the presence of the monarch.

Coronation and jubilee standards

During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at Westminster Abbey, the standards of various countries are carried by various officials in the procession inside the abbey. These flags are the country's coat of arms as a banner of arms. For Australia, similar standards based on the current and previous coat of arms were used thrice: at the coronations of King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner of the 1908–1912 coat of arms was used in 1911, with the banner of the current arms used in 1937 and 1953. The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement. At the 2023 coronation of King Charles III, the Australian national flag was used to represent Australia.