The Flags Act 1953 is an act of the Parliament of Australia which defines the official Australian National Flag and the Australian Red Ensign. History In the decades following the Federation of Australia in 1901 the Red Ensign was the pre-eminent flag in use by private citizens on land. This was largely due to the Commonwealth Government and flag suppliers restricting sales of the blue ensign to the general public. By traditional British understanding, the blue ensign was reserved for official government use. State and local governments, private organisations and individuals were expected to use the red ensign. In the 1920s there was debate over whether the blue ensign was reserved for Commonwealth buildings only, culminating in a 1924 agreement that the Union Flag should take precedence as the National Flag and that state and local governments were henceforth able to use the blue ensign. A memo from the Prime Minister of Australia's Department dated 6 March 1939 stated: "the Red Ensign is the flag to be flown by the public generally" and the federal government policy was "The flying of the Commonwealth Blue Ensign is reserved for Commonwealth Government use but there is no reservation in the case of the Commonwealth Merchant Flag, or Red Ensign". In 1940 the Victorian government passed legislation allowing schools to purchase blue ensigns. The following year prime minister Robert Menzies issued a media release recommending that the blue ensign be flown at schools, government buildings and by private citizens and continued use of the red ensign by merchant ships, providing it was done so respectfully. Prime Minister Ben Chifley issued a similar statement in 1947. On 4 December 1950, Menzies affirmed the Blue ensign as the National flag, and in 1951 King George VI approved the government's recommendation. When the Flags Bill was introduced into parliament on 20 November 1953, Menzies said: "This bill is very largely a formal measure which puts into legislative form what has become almost the established practice in Australia... The design adopted was submitted to His Majesty King Edward VII, and he was pleased to approve of it as the Australian flag in 1902. However, no legislative action has ever been taken to determine the precise form of the flag or the circumstances of its use, and this bill has been brought down to produce that result." Queen Elizabeth II gave royal assent to the 'Flags Act 1953