The Union Flag is thought to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based,[5][7] although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire.[8]
The Commonwealth Star, also known as the Federation Star,[9] originally had six points, representing the six federating colonies. In 1908, a seventh point was added to symbolise the Papua and any future territories.[5][10] Another rationale for the change was to match the star used on the Coat of Arms, which was created in the same year. The Commonwealth Star does not have any official relation to Beta Centauri, despite the latter's brightness and location in the sky; however, the 1870 version of the flag of South Australia featured the "pointer" stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri.[11][12]
The Southern Cross is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere,[5] and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement.[5] Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to also refer to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude.[13] The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on the modern Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, in which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky.[5] The stars are named after the first five letters of the Greek alphabet, in decreasing order of brightness in the sky.[14]
In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller, more central star with five points. This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903.[5]
A complete specification for the official design was published in the Commonwealth Gazette in 1934.[15]