Australia Makes Aboriginal Flag Free For Public As Designer Relinquishes Rights

The Australian Aboriginal flag can now be legally reproduced and displayed following the government’s successful bid to secure the design’s copyright. 

According to The Guardian, the country paid over AU$20 million  (US$14.2 million) to gain rights to the symbol, and to terminate the licenses owned by companies disallowing citizens from free use of the emblem. 

“In reaching this agreement to resolve the copyright issues, all Australians can freely display and use the flag to celebrate Indigenous culture,” said Ken Wyatt, Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians.

“Now that the commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away,” he added. 

The flag was created in 1970 by Luritja artist Harold Thomas to represent the Aboriginal ethnic groups and celebrate their connection to the country’s land, as per ABC News. 

Despite it becoming an official national flag since 2000, the copyright to the image still belonged to Thomas. This meant that any citizen who wished to use the flag had to be granted permission or pay a fee.

Going forward, Thomas will keep moral rights to the flag, with all the future royalties the nation receives from the commercial flag going towards the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC).

A commercial firm will still retain its license to manufacture the flags for commercial use, but citizens will be allowed to display their own flags for personal use at no cost in a “respectful and dignified way,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly, and without restriction,” said Thomas.

[via The Guardian and ABC News, cover image via Steve Allen | Dreamstime.com]