Dear fellow Australians,

I am writing this for, my proposed design for a new Australian National Flag called Oceanic Oasis, which is attached. At a time when so much of our public life pulls us apart, it holds everything we argue over in one design: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the settlers and migrants who came after them, the nation itself, and colours we all share. It offers more than visual appeal. Its structure gives every Australian identity a foundation, and I believe it is the best way forward for our flag.

The design reads from sea to land. Its deep teal field is the vast ocean around the island continent, with the Southern Cross shining across it. From the water the eye rises to the curved, sandy shores of our land, drawn in the shape of a boomerang, where the pale shimmer of a sandbank catches the light. Beyond the shore the sun is rising, with a single vertical line running down through it. The teal and green speak of universal respect for all peoples, and with the gold of the sun and the boomerang they carry our national colours of green and gold, cheered by Australians of every background since the late 1800s.

The Southern Cross already belongs to all of us. For Torres Strait Islanders it forms the left hand of Tagai, the great fisherman whose stars guide voyages and mark the seasons. For many Aboriginal peoples it lies alongside the head of the Emu in the Sky. For the settlers and migrants who came later, it flew over the Eureka Stockade in 1854 and has flown on our national flag since 1901. This design keeps it, with the Commonwealth Star, so two of the present flag's three emblems remain and more of us are gathered beneath them.

Tilt your head to either side and the line through the sun becomes a horizon, with the sun rising on it. The horizon divides the colours as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags divide theirs. The sun on its divided field takes the form of the Aboriginal flag, while the design's teal and green answer the blue sea and green land of the Torres Strait Islander flag, so both First Nations peoples are held in a single emblem. I first drew the line horizontally, with the Aboriginal flag in its usual orientation, but to the naked eye it split the flag along lines of identity once more, with separate peoples standing beside one another, not together. I believe that separation is wrong for a national flag. Every identity keeps its own meaning, but none should be set apart from the rest.

Upright at the flagpole, where a flag begins, the emblem becomes the foundation from which the rest of the design grows. At a glance the flag shows one interconnected people, joined for the common good on every front, rather than separate factions brought together. It is meant to say one thing: in solidarity, one as one. That is what art does. It does not fracture; it gathers, becoming a shared experience and a symbol of strength for everyone.

In the centre of the rising sun is the largest star on the flag: the seven-pointed Commonwealth Star, whose points stand for the six states and the territories, and so for the nation itself. Set within the circle of the sun, it places the Commonwealth of 1901 inside a light that was here long before it. This is the shining star in our sky, and for me it also recalls the star that marked the birth of Christ, whom I regard as the highest example of good. Others will find their own meaning there, and the flag asks no one to read it one way. Its light falls on the Australian character as I know it: compassionate, hard-working and easy-going at heart, respectful of one another, and finding the joy of life in its small things rather than its superficial ones. That is what every nation should aim to be.

I understand that under the Flags Act 1953 only a national vote can change the flag, and I offer this design as a contribution to that conversation. The Aboriginal flag, designed by Harold Thomas, and the Torres Strait Islander flag, designed by the late Mr Bernard Namok of Thursday Island, have been official flags of Australia since 1995. Any final version should carry the blessing of Mr Thomas and of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council, which holds that flag's copyright, and its dot-work, only a sketch here, should be finished by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

I am sending it now for a reason. After the attack on Dr Helen Haines in October, the Governor-General spoke of the good hearts of Australians and reminded us that we can 'wrestle the issue, not the person'. Many of us feel the common ground shrinking, as trust in our institutions thins, loneliness spreads and public debate turns harsher. A flag cannot repair that alone, but a symbol in which every Australian can see themselves, with no one left standing to the side, is a fair place to start.

Sign this petition to make the Oceanic Oasis a part of our national identity. Together, let’s create a symbol that truly reflects the Australia we know and love. Thank you for your time

Kind regards,

Harrison Collins