Why I love the Battle Flag?

in #teamaustralia6 years ago



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I love Australia and always will.
I was born and bread here and will always love this country. Although I'm rather against the establishment.
I think there are so many things wrong with the government and the way business is conducted.

Injustice and inequality are rife in our society.
The way things are run completely disgust me sometimes. You have companies and people with money literally falling out their pockets and on the other hand you have a quarter the population of Australia living from meal to meal.
I can really relate to that as before I became a web developer I came out of poverty. It's no fun when your unsure if you will have the money to get through the fortnight and even worse when you have to couch surf or sleep in your car because you can't pay the bills.

This is why I love and stand for the battle flag, Australia's rebel flag.
The rebel flag for Australia often get misinterpreted, people see the flag and think it's a symbol of racism. But this is completely wrong.
It is true and a shame that a few neo nazi groups adopted the flag, forever tarnishing it but the flag holds no meaning of racism and doesn't stand for racism at all.



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☠️ History ☠️

 
The Australian Battle flag, also known as the rebel flag and the Eureka flag was first used during the Eureka Rebellion way back in December 1854.
The Rebellion resulted because of a period of civil disobedience during the Victorian Gold Rush.
During this period miners were taxed, had to pay hefty fees for a miners license and were constantly harassed by police and the government.
Over a period of a couple of years there were many rallies and protests by the miners. The rallies were to protest against the oppression of the miners.
Tensions continued to grow when the government announced that they would be tripling their miners monthly fee.

Diggers started to become really agitated and started to bear arms.
As a result of this a local rebellion grew and a battalion was formed where a large number of miners swore allegiance to the battle flag.

As a result of this the Battle of the Eureka Stockade took place.
Here is a passage from wikipedia, I really love this last sentance:

In the rising tide of anger and resentment amongst the miners, a more militant leader, Peter Lalor, was elected. In swift fashion, a military structure was assembled. Brigades were formed, and captains were appointed. Licences were burnt, and on 1 December at Bakery Hill, "The disaffected miners... held a meeting where at the Australian flag of independence was solemnly consecrated and vows proffered for its defence.", with the 'Eureka oath' being sworn by Peter Lalor to the affirmation of his fellow demonstrators, who encamped themselves around the flag to resist further licence hunts and harassment by the authorities: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."

The stockade was thrown together with very little planning, and the miners set up an encampment of miners carts put together to form a barricade.
The miners were ill equipped to face the combined police and soldiers, so the battle was swift and one sided but the miners still stood for their rights.
The rebellion resulted in a number or deaths. Most of the deaths were miners.

The are stories of women who jumped on the men to shield them from being killed. The police and military were killing people indiscriminately, it really didn't matter if you were participating in the stockade with the intent of going to war or you were just an innocent bystander there for moral support.

☠️ Conclusion ☠️

 
We often misinterpret things we don't fully understand, and often judge things on face value. It's human nature and we can't help it, we were programmed that way.
As with anything in life, it's usually best to question the status quo and do your own research. Just because someone tells you that something is racist really doesn't mean that's what it stands for.
I love the rebel flag because it represents the oppressed banding together to make a stand against an unfair and unjust government. For me this is what the rebel flag represents.

I think about what happened at the Eureka Stockade and admire the miners for standing up for their rights. In fact this kind of thing is still going on to this day. Just look at the #blacklivesmatter movement and here we have people from a variety of nationalities standing up for their rights.
I admire and respect that because if we don't voice our opinions and challenge authority they think they can do whatever they like.

I don't agree with a number of things our government does.
It doesn't matter who you vote for they are all the same, hopeless. I could honestly go on here for hours :P

I don't have a racist bone in my body, and I hate everyone equally :P



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Awesome read ! We forget sometimes to pay respect for our ancestors that have made our country what it is today by risking their lives so we can enjoy the freedoms and liberty we have today.

Not a flag I've heard of before.
Sounds a lot like many other tales of police and military throughout history. Brute force the order of the day with them.

Haha now you will see the flag everywhere lol.
Yep the police and military forces were quite brutal.

now you will see the flag everywhere

Lol. Guaranteed!

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I visited Ballarat with my family when I was 14. We visited the site of the Eureka Stockade, Soverign Hill, and even watched a live performance based on the stockade. It was awesome.

I don't know why we never learnt about this in school - It could teach us so much about our own democracy.

That would have bee cool to see.
I'm not sure why we aren't learning this in school either.

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