The moment we have been fighting for is finally here! Overnight the Government announced that the Aboriginal flag is FREE for all to use!

According to a statement from the Government: ‘The Aboriginal Flag is now freely available for public use after the Morrison Government completed negotiations with Harold Thomas. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Aboriginal Flag copyright has been transferred to the Commonwealth.

“We’ve freed the Aboriginal flag for Australians,” the Prime Minister said.

“Throughout the negotiations, we have sought to protect the integrity of the Aboriginal Flag, in line with Harold Thomas’ wishes. I thank everyone involved for reaching this outcome, putting the flag in public hands.

“The Aboriginal Flag will now be managed in a similar manner to the Australian National Flag, where its use is free, but must be presented in a respectful and dignified way.’

For over two years we have been fighting to see the flag free and this is an enormous collective win for everyone who has backed the movement. Public advocacy has paid off.  The flag is now back in the public domain where it belongs as the public piece of property that all flags should be. 

To the 165,000 people that signed the petition, the countless people that wrote to their MPs, to the sporting clubs, the Community organisations, Community leaders, and politicians across all parties – together we have created change.

Thank you!!

For everyone that has received a Cease and Desist for the use of the flag, or was forced to pay a 20% fee to celebrate a public symbol – we are so glad that this cloud has been lifted. Today we have finally seen closure on an issue that should have been addressed when the flag was proclaimed in 1995 as an official flag of this country. 

In the past two years we have seen so many incredibly creative iterations of the Aboriginal flag whilst working around the copyright. We are so excited to see the Aboriginal flag return to Communities and to see people wear and celebrate it without fear of retribution.

We won’t ever forget seeing Free the Flag swarm the Sir Doug Nicholls Round of 2020 or the countless submissions to the Senate Enquiry. There are so many moments to reflect on in this campaign and we cannot wait to celebrate together. 

For now, thank you!