When you see the Australian flag flying high and proud, dancing vibrantly in the wind, what does it mean to you? Is it a symbol of freedom, of the great southern land? Do you feel a sense of Australian pride run through your veins? Or do you view it as an emblem of oppression and genocide? Perhaps you don’t give a crap. Wouldn’t blame you. 

I think it’s fair to say that most of us would collectively agree that we care very little about how well we are represented by the Australian flag. After all, who really cares – it’s a coloured banner that just needs to look nice. 

Like most, I personally never really cared until recently – I realised that it’s embarrassing that we are still being represented by a red cross and some white stars – the Union Jack, the insignia of an archaic and obsolete, incestuous royal family responsible for the invasion of half of the Earth and the eradication of countless rich indigenous cultures. Despite our own history of invasion and genocide (although we were still Brits at that point so it wasn’t really us), why should our modern, multicultural democracy, with its own Indigenous history and a whole Western Sydney’s worth of diverse foreign culture, continue to celebrate and perpetuate our historical association with the United Kingdom? 

So that the queen can visit us? Kings and queens are vestiges of a bygone age. They should’ve perished with the pharaohs. Why does anyone even care about the queen? We’ve got Albo now! 

Anyway, we need a new flag. One with actual representation of the rich and diverse pre-colonial history of Australia. The current flag serves only as a reminder that the British monarchy still has some power over us, even though if you asked anyone on the street, they couldn’t tell you what the queen actually does. 

When you really think about it, Kanye has contributed more to western society than the British monarchy in this millennium.  

Perhaps once we fix the flag, we can also move the date of Australia Day to a more suitable day that doesn’t inadvertently celebrate the commencement of a colonial history of genocide and subjugation!  

I know no one is out here celebrating Australia Day because of the deaths of millions of Indigenous people due to colonisation, but for us to celebrate our nation on the anniversary of European arrival, in spite of the inherent negative connotations of that day for the descendants of the original inhabitants of these lands, is in poor taste and sounds like something the British would do. 

I say we move it to January 1st and be done with this whole annoying debate. It’s still in summer, we can move New Year’s Day to the 2nd and have an extra day off, and we won’t be infringing on the mourning of our first nations people. Surely, we are not too lazy and selfish as a nation to stop celebrating what should be a day of mourning.  

The current state of the Australian flag and Australia Day is indicative of a people taking pride in something so clearly wrong, so clearly unfair, and so clearly in violation of the principles of Australian-ness. Ignoring it because we cannot be bothered to change. 

It’s about time that we initiate a change to both the flag and the date of Australia Day – two things that fundamentally reflect Australian culture. 

So, I ask you again, what is it that you feel when you see the Australian flag? 

Is it still pride, or is it shame? 

Or do you still not give a crap?