Our Australian Flag.

[j.sabourn]

Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night,
In our southern skies of blue,
And the little old flag in the corner,
That’s part of our heritage too.

It’s for the English, the Scots and the Irish,
Who were sent to the ends of the earth.
The rogues and the schemers, the doers and dreamers,
Who gave modern Australia birth.

And you who are seeking to change it,
You don’t seem to understand ,
It’s the flag of our law and our language,
Not the flag of a faraway land.

There are plenty of people who’ll tell you,
That when Europe was plunged into night,
That little old flag in the corner,
Was their symbol of freedom and light.

It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance to,
To a forgotten Imperial dream,
We’ve the stars to show where we’re going,
And the old flag to show where we’ve been.

Anon
JS

[Des Jenkins]

Hi John
Thanks for that, it puts into words about how I feel living in this great country.
Des

[ian williamson]

For me Wednesdays allow a perusal of all things nautical here and in various “other places”, to the exclusion of all else for the day, apart from maybe a couple of ‘Tigers’ or cans of the ‘Black Stuff’.
After reading the ditty posted by John Sabourn penned by Anon “Our Australian Flag”, it got me thinking about our own flag.
After a couple of post watch beers and apologies for lack of scansion, outright plagiarism and acknowledgements to John and Anon, here is my take on “Our Australian Flag”.


Jack “Our” Flag

Under northern skies of gray,
Lighting up our world today,
Our flag is still a stirring sight,
Standing for once held impressive might.

It’s for the English, the Irish, the Scots,
The rogues, the schemers, the doers and dreamers,
Who sought out the ends of the earth.
To give the modern world its birth.

Those who seek to deny it,
Don’t seem to understand it,
It’s the flag of law, order and language,
The flag of a civilised island.

There are many nations will tell you,
When Europe was plunged into darkest night,
That little old flag on their border,
Was the symbol of freedom and light.

It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance
To a forgotten Imperial dream,
We all know where we’re going,
And old Jack to show us where we’ve been.

[Des Jenkins]

Hi Ian
Great poem, Like john I admire the people who stand by their fag, and though I give allegiance to the Aussie Flag I still love the Welsh Dragon.
Ded

[ian williamson]

Hi Des,
Oops, just noticed your avatar and name. Both belong to the other great Celtic nation of the United Kingdom, which I have shamefully omitted.
As an edit line one in the second verse should read: It’s for the English, the Irish, the Welsh, the Scots,

With apologies to Taffs all over and under ground. Here is version two:

Jack “Our” Flag - II

Under northern skies of gray,
Lighting up our world today,
Our flag is still a stirring sight,
Standing for once held impressive might.

It’s for the English, the Irish, the Welsh, the Scots,
The rogues, the schemers, the doers and dreamers,
Who sought out the ends of the earth.
To give the modern world its birth.

Those who seek to deny it,
Don’t seem to understand it,
It’s the flag of law, order and language,
The flag of a civilised island.

There are many nations will tell you,
When Europe was plunged into darkest night,
That little old flag on their border,
Was the symbol of freedom and light.

It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance
To a forgotten Imperial dream,
We all know where we’re going,
And old Jack to show us where we’ve been.

Ian

[j.sabourn]

Do the Welsh have their own Parliament ? JS
I believe that Wales didn’t get their own government/parliament until in the late 1990’s previous to that when these ditty’s were composed Wales was governed by the United Kingdom.. Also for many years prior to the Australian National flag , the old Red Duster stood sentinel in its place. JS
Even Canada had its own self ruling long before , their flag was also part of the red ensign until the 50s If I remember correctly when they were endowed with the maple leave as I was in Montreal at the time, this probably was to satisfy the French Canadians. Who spoke their own funny French. JS

[Des Jenkins]

Hi Ian
No worries mate we Welsh have always been a quiet lot Lol
Haven't lived there since they got their own Parliament and don't know if the politicians are any better than the English ones, or for that matter the Aussie ones.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

My parents were staying near Iron Bridge in Shropshire when I popped by nose on the scene Des , maybe my mother hopped over the border to bring me into this world , maybe she knew that Geordie’s are often taken for Welsh the way they tark. She being Scottish maybe wanted to surprise my old man.They when they argued she in Gaelic and the old man in broad Geordie , I never understood either so didn’t work 100%. JS

[James Curry]

The 4 nations have their own Parliaments. Obviously Westminster being the big boss. Wales have their own devolved government/Senedd. No PM but a First Ministerwho is usually the leader of the party that has the majority., Scotland is similar SNP I think are in a coalition with the Scottish Green party, I may be wrong. The SNP seem to have pressed the self destruct button , scandels and wrong doing concerning party funds. One thing the Scottish Parliament is doing is bankrupting the Scottish tax payer to get these 2 ferries built money seems to be no object.
Northern Ireland has Stormont assembly with a first minister Sein Fein being the largest party. Not a bad job as it only takes the DUP or SF to have a storm in a tea cup and they refuse to sit in the house and this leads to the collaspe of devolved government. Oh !!! they also keep paying themselves, so when they want a holiday one will call the other you orange bigot or you are republicans opposing the Union with the rest of the UK. If one or either of the 2 main parties refuse to attend Stormont the place cannot operate. whole thing is a joke. Devolved parliaments are jobs for the boys and a waste of UK tax payers money, mind you same could be said about Westminster Parliament the crowd in charge now should change their name to the U TURN partty.