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The Aboriginal flag can now be freely used like the national flag after the Federal Government bought the copyright in a historic deal with the emblem’s creator.
The $20.05 million deal ends ongoing controversies over the flag’s use stemming from non-Indigenous company WAM Clothing holding the exclusive copyright since November 2018.
The licence had meant anyone wishing to use the flag on clothing or in physical and digital media had to ask permission and pay a fee.
But with the transferral of the copyright to the Commonwealth, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the flag had been “freed” for all Australians, allowing it to be used “in a similar manner to the Australian National Flag”, including on sporting jerseys and grounds, websites, paintings and other artworks.
The flag’s creator, Luritja artist Harold Thomas, said he hoped the arrangement would provide comfort to Aboriginal people and other Australians to use the flag “unaltered, proudly and without restriction”.
“I am grateful that my art is appreciated by so many, and that it has come to represent something so powerful to so many,” he said, in a government statement announcing the purchase.
“The Aboriginal flag design is my dreaming, intertwined with my wife’s family and mine, our ancestral belonging. The land, and the landscape, is indelible in my make-up; it courses through my consciousness and subconsciousness.
“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.”
Source: 9News
