Australia - Current

The flag of Australia was chosen in 1901 from entries in a worldwide design competition held following Federation. It was approved by Australian and British authorities over the next few years, although the exact specifications of the flag were changed several times both intentionally and as a result of confusion. The current specifications were published in 1934, and in 1954 the flag became legally recognised as the "Australian National Flag".
The flag is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars.

The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols, the Union Flag, the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross (or Crux). The Union Flag is thought locally to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based, although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire.
The Commonwealth Star originally had only six points, representing the six federating colonies. However, this changed in 1908 when a seventh point was added to symbolise the Territory of Papua and any future territories. The Commonwealth Star does not have any relation to Beta Centauri, despite that star's coincidental location in the sky and its brightness.
The Southern Cross is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement. Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to refer also to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on today's Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, on which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky. In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller middle star with five points.
A complete specification for the current design was published in the Commonwealth Gazette in 1934.

The length of the Flag is twice the width. Under the Flags Act, the Australian National Flag must meet the following specifications. The Union Jack occupying the upper quarter next the staff. A large white star (representing the 6 States of Australia and the Territories) in the centre of the lower quarter next the pye and pointing direct to the centre of St George's Cross in the Union Jack. 5 white stars (representing the Southern Cross) in the half of the flag further from the staff. The location of the stars is as follows: Commonwealth Star - 7 pointed star, centred in lower hoist, Alpha Crucis - 7 pointed star, straight below centre fly 1/6 up from bottom edge, Beta Crucis - 7 pointed star, 1/4 of the way left and 1/16 up from the centre fly, Gamma Crucis - 7 pointed star, straight above centre fly 1/6 down from top edge, Delta Crucis - 7 pointed star, 2/9 of the way right and 31/240 up from the centre fly, Epsilon Crucis - 5 pointed star, 1/10 of the way right and 1/24 down from the centre fly. The outer diameter of the Commonwealth Star is 3/10 of the flag's width, while that of the stars in the Southern Cross is 1/7 of the flag's width, except for Epsilon, for which the fraction is 1/12. Each star's inner diameter is 4/9 of the outer diameter. The flag's width is the measurement of the hoist edge of the flag (the distance from top to bottom).

The colours of the flag, although not specified by the Flags Act, have been given Pantone specifications by the Awards and Culture Branch of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Australian Government's Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers also gives CMYK and RGB specifications for depicting the flag in print and on screen respectively. Blue, Pantone 280c, RGB 0-0-139, Hex(#00008B), CMYK 100%-80%-0%-0%. Red, Pantone 185c, RGB 255-0-0, Hex(#FF0000), CMYK 0%-100%-100%-0%. White, Pantone Safe, RGB 255-255-255, Hex(#FFFFFF), CMYK 0%-0%-0%-0%.