The Australian Government took possession of 2357 square kilometers of land from New South Wales in 1911 to form the Australian Capital Territory as the site for the Australia National Capital. That capital, Canberra, lies between Sydney, 307 kilometers north-east and Melbourne 655 kilometers south-west. The name Canberra came from the Aboriginal word meaning 'meeting place'.
The Australian Capital Territory was founded as a Federal Territory on 1 January 1911, as capital cities go, Canberra is a newcomer. Following the federation of Australian states in 1901, both Melbourne and Sydney tried to claim national capital status. In 1908, a diplomatic solution was found by selecting a site somewhere in between. Canberra did not attained self-government until 4 March 1989.
However it was not until 25 March 1993 that it had a flag of its own. Competitions were held in 1988 and 1992 in which artists and other interested ACT residents provided a large range of designs for a proposed ACT flag. Some common features from these entries were incorporated into four design options and these were presented by the ACT Legislative Assembly to the ACT community for its consideration in February and March of 1993. The flag above, designed by Ivo Ostyn, was endorsed as the most popular design.
The flag uses Canberra's city colours of blue and gold. In the centre of the gold fly is a modified form of the arms of the City of Canberra, whilst the Southern Cross appears in the blue bar at the hoist.
COAT of ARMSThe coat of arms of Australia's capital was granted in 1928.
The castle in the arms has three towers, which signify dignity, importance and the grandeur of the city.
The sword of justice represents the national authority.
The mace symbolises the law making power.
The crown shows the role of the soveriegnty in Australian government.The rose is the rose of York, which commemorates the contribution of the Duke of York in establishing Canberra as the seat of government.
The portcullis or gate above the arms are the link to the arms of Westminster in England, seat of the British parliament.
Behind the porticullis is a gum tree, which represents growth and progress of the city.
The swans symbolise the Aboriginal and European people.
FLORAL EMBLEM (plant) of the Australian Capital Territory is the ROYAL BLUEBELL (Wahlenbergia gloriosa).
On 26 May 1982 the Governemt adopted the Royal Bluebell as its national flower. This flower was named in honour of GG Wahlenberg (1780-1851), a Professor of Botany at Uppsala, Sweden, and the species name gloriosa is Latin, meaning 'superb' or 'glorious'.
The Royal Bluebell is restricted in distribution to the high montane areas of the Australian Capital Territory, south eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria.
FLORAL EMBLEM of the Australian Capital Territory is the Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)
The Gang-gang Cockatoo was adopted on 27 February 1997. Canberra is the only city in Australia where these distinctive ash-grey cockatoos are residents. During winter small flocks are common in the established gardens around the city where they feed on pine cones and firethorn and hawthorn berries. They often become so engrossed in feeding that observers can get close enough to admire their beautiful plumage. They are creatures of habit and will return to the same tree or bush each day until the food supply is exhausted. Where as in the summer most of the flocks return to the mountain forests to breed in tree hollows and eat eucalyptus and acacia seeds, as well as the seeds of the native pine, Callitris. Their call is a distinctive sound resembling the sound of a squeaking gate and they display a bouncing flight pattern.
The city and lowlands have an average annual rainfall of 630mm throughout the year. It also experiences light snowfalls in winter. The mean maximum temp is 19.70C and the lowest of 6.90C.
The Namadgi National Park covers about 40% of the Australian Capital Territory. It reaches the border of the New South Wales Kosciusko National Park, and together with other parks in Victoria is part of a series of reserves which protect most of Australia's alpine and sub alpine areas.
Australian Parliament House.
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