A threat to our flag !

The British government has agreed to let Scotland hold a referendum on breaking away from the three hundred year old amalgamation of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales that became the United Kingdom.   It seems likely that this referendum will take place in 2014.

The polls indicate that about 54% of Scots oppose the move, but that is before debate begins and a lot will depend on what happens to the United Kingdom economy - and how the Economic Union Euro crisis evolves - before the people put pen to paper.

Should the referendum succeed - and Scotland leave the UK to become an independent country, it will be necessary for a new flag to replace the Union Jack.    This old flag is an amalgamation of the crosses of the four constituents of the union, and without Scotland the flag will be missing the " blue " of the " red, white and blue ".

That would certainly create a problem for Australia, and all those other parts of the world that incorporate the Union Jack in their national flag,

One option would be for Australia to do nothing - and just retain the old Union Jack in the upper left corner as a symbol of from whence this new nation emerged.  To many, it would seem odd to retain a flag that no longer applies to the country in which our head of state resides - and it would certainly re-energise the republican debate across Australia.

The issue of becoming a republic seems to have been set aside until the present Queen dies.  Considering her age, it may well be that this referendum and that event coincide, hence the question of what flag flies over this country needs consideration now.

Looking back into the distant past, flags originated as heraldic devices that were supposed to carry a message.    Our flag contained the Union Jack as a symbol of our origin, and the stars of the Southern Cross and the Federation star represented who we are - and where we are located.

Perhaps if a referendum on the other side of the world dictates a need to change our flag, we should consider a change of message.  In recent times we have sought reconciliation with the people who lived here before that first fleet dropped anchor in 1788.

A simple solution to the flag problem would be to replace the Union Jack with the Aboriginal flag.  In this way we would recognise the Aboriginal people who were here before 1788, and retain the blue background, stars of the Southern Cross and Federation star - to represent those who followed to become  citizens of this country.

That could become the ultimate act of conciliation, binding together all the citizens - past and present - of this country we call home.