1993 Design Competition: 2nd Place

Flag Proportion: 2:3

The second placed design in Ausflag′s 1993 design competition for a new Australian flag, above, was from Roderick Simpson of Sydney. He received $8000 from the prizemoney pool.

The red-ochre arc at the bottom represents Australia, and the blue above represents our clear, wide skies. The Southern Cross appears in the primary position of the flag to represent the Australian nation.

This design is very similar to the winning design by Mark Tucker, the main difference being the use of shades of the base colours to give a more natural look, and the absence of a light colour to separate dark colours (called fimbriation or heraldic edging).

Ausflag ran its second major public design competition for a new Australian flag in conjunction with The Australian newspaper in September 1993 shortly after Sydney won the rights to host the 2000 Olympics. The competition had a total prize pool of $25 000 and attracted over 20 000 entries.

The winning design (above) was announced on 17 December 1993. The winner was Mark Tucker, a graphic designer from Bellevue Hill in Sydney, who was awarded $12 000 from the prizemoney pool.

The red arc at the bottom represents the endless horizon of the great South Land. It could also be taken as a representation of Uluru, the famous monolith and symbol of central Australia. The blue above represents our clear, wide skies. The white band is an heraldic device, but capable of interpretation as the white beaches surrounding the Great Island Continent. Finally, the Southern Cross appears in the primary position, towards the pole, as the badge with which Australians identify.

The second placed design in Ausflag's 1993 design competition for a new Australian flag, above, was from Roderick Simpson of Sydney. He received $8000 from the prizemoney pool.