^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Australian Antarctic Territory

image by Antonio Martins

Australian Antarctic Territory
Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) pennant

See also

Australian Antarctic Territory

Consists of islands and territories other than Adélie Land south of 60 degrees South latitude, and between 160degrees to 45 degrees East. This became a territory of Australia in 1936. No population is listed, although there is a transient population of scientists and researchers at 3 bases

From the Statesman's Yearbook:

An imperial Order in Council of 7 Feb. 1933 placed under Australian authority all the islands and territories other thanAdélie Land south of 60 S. lat. and lying between 160 E. long and 45 E. long. The Order came into force with a Proclamation issued by the Governor-General on 24 Aug. 1936 after the passage of the Australian Antarctic Territory Acceptance Act, 1933. The boundaries ofAdélie Land were definitively fixed by a French Decree of 1 April 1938 as the islands and territories south of 60 S. lat. lying between 136 E. long. and 142 E. long. The Australian Antarctic Territory Act 1954 declared that the laws in forcein the Australian Capital Territory are, so far as they are applicable and are not inconsistent with any ordinance made under the Act, in force in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The area of the territory is estimated at 6,119,818 sq. km. On 13 Feb. 1954 the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) established a station on MacRobertson Land at lat. 67.37 S. and long. 62.52. The station was named Mawson in honour of the late Sir Douglas Mawson.Meteorological and other scientific research is conducted at Mawson, which is the centre for coastal and inland survey expeditions.
A second Australian scientific research station was established on the coast of Princess Elizabeth Land on 13 Jan. 1957 at lat. 68.34 S. and long. 77.58 E. The station was named Davis in honour of Capt. John King Davis, Mawson's second-in-command on 2 expeditions. The station was temporarily closed down in Jan. 1965 and re-opened in Feb. 1969. In Feb. 1959 the Australian Government accepted from the US. Government custody of Wilkes Station, which was established by the US on 16 Jan. 1957 on the Budd Coast of Wilkes Land, at lat. 66.15 S. and long. 110.32 E. The station was named in honour of Lieut Charles Wilkes, who commanded the 1838-40 US-expedition to the area, and was closed in Feb. 1969. Operations were then transferred to the new station, Casey. Construction commenced on Casey station in Jan. 1965 and was continued, mainly during summer visits, until Feb. 1969, when it was opened. The station, specially designed to withstand blizzard winds and preventinundation by snow, is situated 2.4 km. south of Wilkes at lat. 66.17 S. and long. 110.32 E.

Jarig Bakker, 30 January 2000

Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition

image by Jorge Candeias, 14 August 2005

The Australian Antarctic Division operates 4 permanent and 3 summer-only stations in Antarctica:

Winter: Casey, Davis, Macquarie Island, Mawson
Summer-only: Heard Island, Law Base, Law Dome

The Organizing authority is the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE).
Chris Kretowicz, 30 April 2001

This flag was described by Roman Klimes in his paper 'Symbols of Antarctica', published in 'Flags in South Africa and the World' [icv97].The animal shown on the flag is a leopard seal. The tool below the animal and the letters ANARE is of course a boomerang. The image in the paper uses a much more darker green shade, making the ANARE lettersimpossible to be distinguished.The pennant was first flown on Mawson base in early 1965.

I have seen the pennant in the TV series 'Breaking the Ice', realized by the historian T. Bowden. During his own expedition through theAustralian Antarctic Territory, Bowden related the history of the Australian expeditions in Antarctica. The ANARE pennant is seen on bowof the vessel serving the bases and on a pole in the bases, near the Australian flag.

The archive images shown in the series featured several exploration vehicles used in the 50-60's, and all of them had a huge Australian flag hoisted on their roof. This seemed to be no longer the case of the vehicles currently in use.
Ivan Sache, 1 May 2001

The flag is a pennant shape and is green in colour with a rampant leopard seal over the letters ANARE, which is positioned on an upturned boomerang shaped flash. It is flown at all Antarctic stations in occupancy and at home base offices in Australia.
"E. J." (supernumerary Macquarie Island 1962), 2 February 2003

This page has more information on ANARE's emblems (the one with the seal is last on the page). Quote:

Dr Law saw potential in the leopard seal as a simplified ANARE symbol. "I was struck with the possibility of formalising a sketch of the creature to produce a geometrical pattern of straight lines....I drew it in the national colours of gold and green."

Jan Mertens, 7 August 2005

Information on the ANARE pennant was published as early as 1965 by Whitney Smith in The Flag Bulletin [tfb], Volume 5 Number 1, which stated that its size was three feet by fifteen feet and was first used at Mawson Base in early 1965.
Ralph Kelly, 15 August 2005