Flag of Western Australia

History

The first confirmed European sighting of the western coast of Australia was made by the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600s. During an expedition in January 1697 to what is now Cottesloe, Willem de Vlamingh observed black swans in habitation at the estuary of the river there. He consequently named this body of water the Swan River (Zwaanenrivier in Dutch). However, the Dutch abandoned aspirations to annex the area, having discerned poor prospects for trade or colonisation. The British later established settlements at Fremantle and Perth in June 1829. These were collectively called the Swan River Colony.

The black swan soon became the unofficial symbol of the territory. For instance, it was depicted on its banknotes, which began circulating several years after the establishment of the colony. The bird was also featured on the Swan River Guardian, the settlement's first newspaper, as well as the inaugural issue of the Western Australian Government Gazette. Both of these were first printed in 1836. It was subsequently portrayed on the first postage stamps issued by the colony in 1854.

An Order in Council was promulgated on 17 August 1869, instructing British colonial governors to fly the British ensign defaced with the coat of arms or badge of the territory. On 3 January of the following year, Frederick Weld, the Governor of Western Australia, put forward a proposed design of the badge that depicted a black swan on a yellow backdrop. His reasoning for this sketch was that the colony "at its commencement was usually known as the Swan River Settlement, and the Black Swan is represented upon its seal, and has always been considered as its special badge, or cognizance". The design was officially confirmed in a despatch bearing the date of 27 November 1875 by his successor, William C. F. Robinson. It was retained as the flag of the new state of Western Australia after the Federation of Australia in 1901.

Representatives from the College of Arms in London noted in 1936 that the direction of the swan was out of place. Vexillological convention dictates that all objects on a flag should face towards the hoist, which is the "point of honour". However, nothing was done to address this irregularity until the run-up to the royal visit in 1954. The issue was brought before the Parliament of Western Australia and the direction of the swan was corrected on 3 November 1953.