The flag, designed by artist Harold Thomas, is now free to fly for Australians without permission or payment of fees.
The deal ends a long-running dispute about the flag's public use.
The artist had given licenses to some companies to use the flag on their products.
The Australian government has acquired the copyright to the Aboriginal flag for US$14 million (€12.3 million), making it free to fly without the threat of legal action.
This marks the end to a long-term dispute which had restricted sporting teams and Aboriginal communities from reproducing the image.
The Aboriginal flag has been recognized as an official flag of Australia since 1995, flown from government buildings and embraced by sporting clubs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had "freed the Aboriginal flag for Australians." He added it could now be used in apparel, on sports grounds, and in other medium "without having to ask for permission or pay a fee."
"Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away," said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt in a statement.
The announcement came on the eve of Australia Day, a national holiday.
Why was the Aboriginal flag disputed?
The flag was designed by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, and had become a symbol of demonstration and protest for Australia's Aboriginal people.
"I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restrictions," said Thomas.
In the last 50 years, there had been intense debate about the flag's use after Thomas had given rights to companies to use the flag on their products. One of these companies, WAM Clothing, sent cease and desist letters to organizations such as the Australian Football League, for using the Aboriginal flag on clothing.
The government has now paid to terminate the licences held by the companies.
As part of the deal, a scholarship has been set up for Indigenous students for $100,000 in Thomas' name.
THE CONTROVERSY OVER AUSTRALIA DAY
January 26
January 26 is Australia's national day. It marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson in Sydney in 1788. The Australian government describes Australia Day as a day to "celebrate all the things we love about Australia." But for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, January 26 marks the beginning of the loss of their culture, people and land.
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tg/rt (AFP, Reuters)
The artist had given licenses to some companies to use the flag on their products.
The Australian government has acquired the copyright to the Aboriginal flag for US$14 million (€12.3 million), making it free to fly without the threat of legal action.
This marks the end to a long-term dispute which had restricted sporting teams and Aboriginal communities from reproducing the image.
The Aboriginal flag has been recognized as an official flag of Australia since 1995, flown from government buildings and embraced by sporting clubs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had "freed the Aboriginal flag for Australians." He added it could now be used in apparel, on sports grounds, and in other medium "without having to ask for permission or pay a fee."
"Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away," said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt in a statement.
The announcement came on the eve of Australia Day, a national holiday.
Why was the Aboriginal flag disputed?
The flag was designed by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas, and had become a symbol of demonstration and protest for Australia's Aboriginal people.
"I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restrictions," said Thomas.
In the last 50 years, there had been intense debate about the flag's use after Thomas had given rights to companies to use the flag on their products. One of these companies, WAM Clothing, sent cease and desist letters to organizations such as the Australian Football League, for using the Aboriginal flag on clothing.
The government has now paid to terminate the licences held by the companies.
As part of the deal, a scholarship has been set up for Indigenous students for $100,000 in Thomas' name.
THE CONTROVERSY OVER AUSTRALIA DAY
January 26
January 26 is Australia's national day. It marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson in Sydney in 1788. The Australian government describes Australia Day as a day to "celebrate all the things we love about Australia." But for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, January 26 marks the beginning of the loss of their culture, people and land.
12345
tg/rt (AFP, Reuters)
Free for all: Copyright for Aboriginal flag transferred to Australian public in $21m deal
Rob Harris08:41, Jan 25 2022
KATE GERAGHTY/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A man sits on a bench in front of a mural of the Aboriginal flag in Newtown, Sydney, New South Wales.
The Aboriginal flag will be transferred to public hands for the first time, freeing its use for Indigenous community groups and sporting codes after the Australian government reached a historic deal with its creator to permanently acquire copyright more than 50 years after it was first flown.
The A$20 million (NZ$21.3m) taxpayer-funded settlement will end a long-running legal controversy surrounding its use by allowing the ensign to be painted on sports grounds, used on apparel such as sports jerseys and shirts, on websites, in paintings and other artworks, digitally and in any other medium without having to ask for permission or pay a fee.
The flag – its upper black half representing the Aboriginal people, the lower red half the red ochre earth and its yellow circle the land and sun – had been entangled in a legal stoush between its designer and copyright holder, its licensees and dozens of community and sporting organisations. They had received cease-and-desist letters from a non-Indigenous company WAM Clothing, which was granted exclusive use by Luritja artist Harold Thomas in 2018.
Thomas said the flag was a deeply personal piece of artwork that was never intended to be a political platform.
“In the future, the flag will remain, not as a symbol of struggle but as a symbol of pride and unity,” he said.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the finalisation of more than two years of delicate and sensitive negotiations between the Commonwealth and Thomas would free the Aboriginal flag for all Australians.
“Throughout the negotiations, we have sought to protect the integrity of the Aboriginal flag, in line with Harold Thomas’ wishes,” he said. “I thank everyone involved for reaching this outcome, putting the flag in public hands.”
More than two decades after Sydney Olympic golden girl Cathy Freeman wrapped herself in the emblem that had become symbolic of her people’s struggle, Morrison said the flag would now be managed in the same manner as the Australian flag, where its use is free but must be presented in a respectful and dignified way.
ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag flying in Canberra.
The multi-million dollar settlement includes a payment to Thomas for the copyright and extinguishes the existing licences. As part of the transfer, Thomas will retain his moral rights over the flag and the Commonwealth has also agreed that all future royalties will be put towards the ongoing work of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC).
The government will also provide an annual scholarship in Thomas’ honour worth A$100,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders students to further the development of Indigenous governance and leadership.
The National Indigenous Australians Agency will also create an online history and education portal for the flag. An original painting by Thomas recognising the flag’s 50th anniversary and the historic transfer of copyright will be donated to the Australian public and displayed in a prominent location.
Thomas, based in Alice Springs, will use A$2 million to establish an Australian Aboriginal Flag Legacy not-for-profit to make periodic disbursements aligned with the interests of Aboriginal Australians and the flag.
Now in his 70s, the man credited as the first Aboriginal person to graduate from an Australian art school has kept a low public profile since the largely social media-driven movement gained momentum in 2020.
DAVID HANCOCK/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The artist who created the flag Harold Thomas signing the Aboriginal flag agreement.
“I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restriction,” Thomas said. “I am grateful that my art is appreciated by so many, and that it has come to represent something so powerful to so many.
“The flag represents the timeless history of our land and our people’s time on it. It is an introspection and appreciation of who we are. It draws from the history of our ancestors, our land, and our identity and will honour these well into the future.”
The AFL, one of the country’s most influential sporting organisations, became a main player in the “Free the Flag” campaign after it would not enter a commercial agreement to paint the flag on its playing arenas nor feature its design on its Indigenous-themed jumpers during its annual Sir Doug Nicholls round.
The code said at the time its own players did do not want the competition to pay to paint the flag on the ground or print it on club jumpers if other Indigenous Australians and groups were denied the opportunity because of the commercial terms sought by the licensee.
KATE GERAGHTY/SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
People walk past a mural with the Aboriginal flag that welcomes people to the Block on Eveleigh Street in Redfern, Sydney.
Several prominent Indigenous athletes, including Olympian Nova Peris and AFL greats Lance Franklin and Michael Long also gave voice to the campaign to free the flag for community use.
Spark Health, an Aboriginal-owned and run social enterprise that makes merchandise with the tagline ‘Clothing the Gap’, was among the first groups served with a cease and desist notice in 2019.
Under the negotiated agreement, Carroll and Richardson Flagworld will remain the exclusive licensed manufacturer and provider of Aboriginal flags and bunting to ensure the flags continue to be manufactured in Australia. While the ongoing arrangement covers commercial production, Flagworld will not restrict individuals from making their own flag for personal use.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, said securing the free use of the Aboriginal Flag was profoundly important for all Australians.
“Over the last 50 years we made Harold Thomas’ artwork our own – we marched under the Aboriginal flag, stood behind it, and flew it high as a point of pride,” he said.
“Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away.”
Sydney Morning Herald
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