The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 1998, p.4.
By Matthew Moore, Olympics Editor
Australian athletes may scrap the national flag as part of their uniforms at the Sydney Olympics unless the flag is changed before the Games, the head of the Australian Olympic Committee, Mr John Coates, said yesterday.
He said the AOC was determined our athletes were "dressed and branded in a way the athletes feel comfortable" and that may not include uniforms with a flag containing Britain′s Union Jack or having a prime minister open the Games.
"There may not be the national flag on that if we haven′t changed the national flag. We might choose to go the direction of something like the stars," he said, referring to the Southern Cross.