Design: Harold Thomas
Lapel pin, flag of the Aboriginal Land Rights Movement, original packaging with description
Australia, New South Wales, Sydney
1987
Metal, plastic
Birgit Scheps (Curator for Australia) acquired this pin in 1987, during a study trip to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Donated to the museum by Scheps 1987
Au 4146
This lapel pin is still set in its original packaging, along with a description of the symbolism and a reference to the designer, Harold Thomas, of the Luritja community.
The description reads as follows:
“The Aboriginal Flag features a golden circle representing the sun uniting the Aboriginal people (depicted by the black uppermost half of the flag) with the earth (the red portion of the flag). The first recorded use of the flag to represent the indigenous population of Australia dates back to 1972 and was a variation of the above theme.
Mr. Harold Thomas of the Luritja tribe of Central Australia is the designer of this striking black, yellow and red flag.“
Birgit Scheps, currently curator for Australia and the Pacific at Leipzig, acquired this pin during a study trip in 1987.
In 1988, Australia commemorated the 200-year anniversary of its founding as a British colony that later became the Federation of Australian States. However, the Indigenous population had no reason to celebrate, and used the “Bicentenary” to protest racism, injustice, and discrimination against First Australians, and, most importantly, to demand their traditional land rights.
For the first time, these protests also reached a wide international audience.
Birgit Scheps-Bretschneider