Australian Ochre

“I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains…” In Dorothea McKellar's poem about Australia, the wide brown earthy colours of the Australian outback trigger strong feelings for many Aussies. Our “golden soil” is mentioned in our National Anthem.

In this banner the outline of our island continent reminds us of the vastness of our island home “girt by sea.” The colours of red and yellow ochre are those of crushed rock that the Aboriginal inhabitants used in body paint to identify their tribe. They also represent the stunning colours of the vast inland of our nation and the stark contrasts found within her.

The colours also represent the colours of a flame. This represents a uniquely Australian national redemptive gift from God; an 'earthy' gift which is beginning to flow to the other nations of the world.