The Aboriginal Flag is copyrighted by Harold Thomas. Nearly all modern flags are. Consequently, Google was unable to use it on their website as they didn't want to pay for it. Not a big deal. However, objects like flags get a communal form of ownership that is seen as public domain, which is at odds with copyright where an individual owns the rights to the flag.

The tradition of Australian flags can be divided into the three periods, the colonial period, the federation period and the modern period. The colonial period denotes early representations of defaced British Ensigns incorporating a mixture of British and Australian imagery. The federation period extends from 1901 to 1971 when the Blue and Red defaced British ensigns were adopted as flags to represent Australian ethnicity by the Australian Federal government. The modern period begins with the flying of the Aboriginal Flag as Australians incorporated Australian imagery into flags outside of the British Ensign tradition.

In terms of independent heraldic traditions being developed in Australia the Eureka Stockade flag was the most significant of the colonial period. The Eureka flag was unique for its time in that it did not carry any European imagery. Through Peter Lalor's speech at Bakery Hill, the Southern Cross was indelibly entwined with Australian liberty. The significant event of the federation period was the Flag Act of 1954 officially adopting the Blue Ensign as the Australian National Flag over the British Union Flag. The modern era has produced flags of great beauty and meaning such as the Aboriginal Flag, the Boxing Kangaroo flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag and the development of the unique Australian Pale design.

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