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Every year, around this time (Australia Day today folks - our national day, non-Aussies), debates come up about our flag and our anthem. Debates about changing them.
So I feel like stating my opinion on the matter.
The Anthem
Advance Australia Fair is a good song in my opinion. Very patriotic and expressing high ideals that one would hope for in a national anthem. So what that a couple of phrases are in somewhat old-fashioned language? Who doesn't understand the meaning of "girt by sea"?
By comparison, the idea of trading it off for Waltzing Matilda is laughable! It's a song about a suicidal sheep thief! It's packed with old swaggy (classic Aussie backpacker) slang, that one only understands if given an explanation by someone old enough to have lived in an era when it was common! I'm lucky there, my Mum is old enough, and country-raised at that. She was a child in a time when classic swagmen were still wandering.
But even if the worlds were changed, I'd still know what the original song was. The new lyrics would bug me because they simply aren't the right lyrics.
I don't see why a really good anthem needs to be dumped for a song that would always remind me of a sheep thief, no matter how much a national favourite the song is.
The Flag
Even bigger debate, should we trade the Union Jack in the Aussie flag for something else? Should we trade up the whole shebang? Like hell!
A basic run-down - The Aussie flag has the Union Jack, the Southern Cross (Crux Australis) and a large seven-pointed star.
The Southern Cross is there because we are a southern hemisphere nation. There are a good few southern nations that have the Cross on their flags and I for one don't blame them - we're lucky people to get such a cool constellation in our skies.
The seven-pointed star represents the states and territories of Australia. New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania. A point on the star for each.
And the Union Jack. Let's face it, it was the British who were the first white people to colonise Australia. Even if a lot of people don't feel we are really close to Britain anymore (though we are still part of the British Commonwealth), I don't see why we can't acknowledge our origins by having the Union Jack in our flag. Take Hawaii, they are part of the USA now, but they keep the Union Jack in their state flag in pride of their history as a British colony. I don't see why Australia can't be the same.
So, why remove a reminder of our origins from our flag? We gained the right to govern ourselves without a fight, so we have no reason to have any enmity against Britain. Can we just have some pride about our colonial origins?
So I feel like stating my opinion on the matter.
The Anthem
Advance Australia Fair is a good song in my opinion. Very patriotic and expressing high ideals that one would hope for in a national anthem. So what that a couple of phrases are in somewhat old-fashioned language? Who doesn't understand the meaning of "girt by sea"?
By comparison, the idea of trading it off for Waltzing Matilda is laughable! It's a song about a suicidal sheep thief! It's packed with old swaggy (classic Aussie backpacker) slang, that one only understands if given an explanation by someone old enough to have lived in an era when it was common! I'm lucky there, my Mum is old enough, and country-raised at that. She was a child in a time when classic swagmen were still wandering.
But even if the worlds were changed, I'd still know what the original song was. The new lyrics would bug me because they simply aren't the right lyrics.
I don't see why a really good anthem needs to be dumped for a song that would always remind me of a sheep thief, no matter how much a national favourite the song is.
The Flag
Even bigger debate, should we trade the Union Jack in the Aussie flag for something else? Should we trade up the whole shebang? Like hell!
A basic run-down - The Aussie flag has the Union Jack, the Southern Cross (Crux Australis) and a large seven-pointed star.
The Southern Cross is there because we are a southern hemisphere nation. There are a good few southern nations that have the Cross on their flags and I for one don't blame them - we're lucky people to get such a cool constellation in our skies.
The seven-pointed star represents the states and territories of Australia. New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, West Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania. A point on the star for each.
And the Union Jack. Let's face it, it was the British who were the first white people to colonise Australia. Even if a lot of people don't feel we are really close to Britain anymore (though we are still part of the British Commonwealth), I don't see why we can't acknowledge our origins by having the Union Jack in our flag. Take Hawaii, they are part of the USA now, but they keep the Union Jack in their state flag in pride of their history as a British colony. I don't see why Australia can't be the same.
So, why remove a reminder of our origins from our flag? We gained the right to govern ourselves without a fight, so we have no reason to have any enmity against Britain. Can we just have some pride about our colonial origins?
