The Centenary Flag was proclaimed a flag of Australia under section 6 of the Flags Act 1953 on 20 September 2001.
The Australian National Flag Association presented the Centenary Flag to the Hon John Howard MP, the then Prime Minister of Australia, on behalf of the people of Australia, on Australian National Flag Day 2001 at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. The occasion commemorated the centenary of the first flying of the flag of the Commonwealth of Australia on 3 September 1901. Since then, the Centenary Flag has been flown in each state and territory and was also flown in London at the opening of the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park on 11 November 2003.
The Centenary Flag is the Australian National Flag with the addition on the headband of an inscription that refers to the first flying of the Australian National Flag on 3 September 1901, and a crimson stripe to represent the thread of kinship that stands at the heart of the federation.
The Centenary Flag is the Commonwealth’s flag of State and is flown on ceremonial occasions, such as the opening of Parliament and when visiting Heads of State are present.