The flag is based on the defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge is a gold disc with a white-backed piping shrike (magpie), its wings outstretched. The badge is believed to have been designed by Robert Craig.
Previous flags
The first flag of South Australia was adopted in 1870. It too was a defaced British Blue Ensign with a black disc in the fly, containing the Southern Cross and the two pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) appear.
South Australia then adopted a second flag in 1876 and it was also a Blue Ensign but it had a new badge. The badge design was a artistic redition of the arrival of Britannia (a woman in flowing garb and holding a shield, representing the new settlers) meeting an Aboriginal sitting with a spear on a rocky shoreline. A kangaroo appears to be carved into the rocks behind the Aboriginal . This flag was adopted after a request from the British Colonial Office for a new design over the old one due to its similarity to the Flags of New Zealand and Victoria.
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