The Eureka Flag
"...stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."
The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time on Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia as a symbol of the resistance of the gold miners during the Eureka Stockade rebellion in 1854. Beneath this flag, Peter Lalor, leader of the Ballarat Reform League, swore this oath to the affirmation of his fellow demonstrators: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."
The Eureka Flag is thought to have been designed by a Canadian gold miner by the name of "Lieutenant" Ross during the Eureka Stockade uprising in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1854. To this day no one knows whether "Ross" was his first or last name. Sad but true and an appalling case of not recording history as it happened.
According to Frank Cayley's book Flag of Stars the flag's five stars represent the Southern Cross and the white cross joining the stars represents unity in defiance. The blue background is believed to represent the blue shirts worn by many of the diggers, rather than represent the sky as is commonly thought.
The flag above is considered to be the Eureka Flag (a number of variants seem to have existed), as it is the design of the flag torn down at the stockade by Police Constable John King on the morning of the miners' uprising - Sunday, 3 December 1854. The torn and tattered remains of this flag are kept at the Ballarat Fine Art Museum.
The "Eureka Stockade" uprising was essentially a short-lived revolt by gold miners against petty officialdom and harassment by a corrupt Police force, who would often ask miners to show their gold digging licences several times a day. The miners also objected to the high cost of the licences.
Led by Peter Lalor, who later became a respected Victorian MP and Minister, the Eureka uprising was a spectacular failure in a military sense. The revolt had its roots in the killing of a miner, James Scobie, by a publican. An inquest was held, but despite the evidence of miners, no conclusion was made about who was responsible. Instead, the miners who pressed for the arrest of the publican were taken into custody.
This sparked protests by the miners who held many public meetings, and sought to take the law into their own hands by seeking out the publican and burning down his hotel. When the culprits were arrested and imprisoned, the situation in the goldfields became explosive and expanded to cover general discontent with unequal laws and unequal rights.
The miners elected Lalor to lead them, and they built a stockade at the goldfields to defy the authorities. It was at this time the Eureka flag first appeared. Within a few days, a military force of about 300 men had assembled to attack the Stockade, and within 15 minutes of the commencement of the attack, had smashed the stockade and killed many of the rebels.
Today, the CFMEU flies the Eureka flag for those brave workers who flew in the face of adversity, persecution and injustice and in the process made a stand for decency, fairness and equality. They may have lost the battle but they won the war when it came to ensuring future generations of workers were treated far better than themselves. In short, Dare to struggle, dare to win!
