<P> The Australian National Flag may be used for commercial or advertising purposes without formal permission as long as the flag is used in a dignified manner and reproduced completely and accurately; it should not be defaced by overprinting with words or illustrations, it should not be covered by other objects in displays, and all symbolic parts of the flag should be identifiable . It also must sit first (typically, left) where more than one flag is used . For this reason the Collingwood Football Club had to reverse its logo, which features the flag . </P> <P> There have been several attempts to make desecration of the Australian flag a crime . In 1953, during the second reading debate on the Flags Act, the leader of the Opposition, Arthur Calwell, unsuccessfully called for provisions to be added to the bill to criminalise desecration . Michael Cobb introduced private member's bills in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992 to ban desecration, but on each occasion the bill lapsed . In 2002, the leader of the National Party, John Anderson, proposed to introduce laws banning desecration of the Australian flag, a call that attracted support from some parliamentarians both in his own party and the senior Coalition partner, the Liberal Party . The Prime Minister, John Howard, rejected the calls stating that "...in the end I guess it's part of the sort of free speech code that we have in this country". In 2003, the Australian Flags (Desecration of the Flag) Bill was tabled in Parliament by Trish Draper without support from Howard and subsequently lapsed . In 2006, following a flag - burning incident during the 2005 Cronulla riots and a burnt flag display by a Melbourne artist, Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop introduced the Protection of the Australian National Flag (Desecration of the Flag) Bill 2006 . This bill sought to make it "a criminal offence to wilfully destroy or otherwise mutilate the Flag in circumstances where a reasonable person would infer that the destruction or mutilation is intended publicly to express contempt or disrespect for the Flag or the Australian Nation ." The bill received a second reading but subsequently lapsed and did not go to vote in the House of Representatives . </P> <P> Before 1901, what is now Australia was six separate British colonies . The Union Flag, as the flag of the British Empire, was first used on Australian soil on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay, and it was again used at the start of European settlement of the country on 26 January 1788 . This was the original Union Flag introduced in 1606 that did not include the Saint Patrick's Saltire, included from 1801 after the Acts of Union 1801 . It is the second version post 1801 that is depicted on the Australian Flag . It was often used to represent them collectively, and each colony also had its own flag based on the Union Flag . As an Australian national consciousness began to emerge, several flag movements were formed and unofficial new flags came into common usage . Two attempts were made throughout the nineteenth century to design a national flag . The first such attempt was the National Colonial Flag created in 1823--1824 by Captains John Nicholson and John Bingle . This flag consisted of a red cross on a white background, with an eight - point star on each of the four limbs of the cross, while incorporating a Union Flag in the canton . The most popular "national" flag of the period was the 1831 Federation Flag, also designed by Nicholson . This flag was the same at the National Colonial Flag, except that the cross was blue instead of resembling that of St. George . Although the flag was designed by Nicholson in 1831, it did not become widely popular until the latter part of the century, when calls for federation began to grow louder . These flags, and many others such as the Eureka Flag (which came into use at the Eureka Stockade in 1854), featured stars representing the Southern Cross . The oldest known flag to show the stars arranged as they are seen in the sky is the Anti-Transportation League Flag, which is similar in design to the present National Flag . The differences were that there was no Commonwealth Star, while the components of the Southern Cross are depicted with eight points and in gold . This flag was only briefly in usage, as two years after the formation of the Anti-Transportation League in 1851, the colonial authorities decided to stop the intake of convicts, so the ATL ceased its activities . The Eureka Flag is often viewed as the first "Australian" flag as it was the first notable example of a design that had the Southern Cross while excluding the Union Flag . The Murray River Flag, popular since the 1850s, is still widely used by boats that traverse Australia's main waterway . It is the same as the National Colonial Flag, except that the white background in the three quadrants other the canton were replaced with four alternating blue and white stripes, representing the four major rivers that run into the Murray River . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> National Colonial Flag </Td> <Td> Australian Federation Flag </Td> <Td> Eureka Flag </Td> <Td> Anti-Transportation League Flag </Td> <Td> Murray River Flag (Upper) </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What do the stars represent on the australian flag