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Chief of Army flags (Australia)

Chief of Army Flag
Former Chief of Staff flag
Chief of Australian Imperial Military Force

See also:

Chief of Army Flag

image by Miles Li, 25 April 2017

Here is the current version of the Australia's Chief of Army Flag. It replaces the old Chief of General Staff flag featuring the British lion-and-crown crest (see below). Note the badge on the new flag - the Army "rising sun" and the crossed swords - is the badge of the Chief of Army.
Miles Li, 7 October 2005

The RAAF Manual of Ceremonial, AAP 5135.002, which is downloadable at this Air Cadet Corps site, states that this flag is a car flag only.
Joe McMillan, 22 November 2003

I believe it is also flown in front of the Department of Defence in Canberra.
Miles Li, 22 November 2003

image by Ian MacDonald, 8 October 2026

The Chief of Army flag comes in two sizes: 90cm by 180cm and 15cm by 23cm as a car flag.
(Source: Australian Army Ceremonial Manual, Volume 1, Annex E to Chapter 22, available as a PDF file.)
Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Use of this flag was approved by Defence Instruction (General) ADMIN 12-1 Amendment List 20 dated 24 August 2001. The emblem is the 1991 (seventh) pattern Rising Sun badge and swords in gold; the flag dimensions are 900 mm by 1800 mm. The car-flag dimensions are 150 mm by 230 mm.
Jeff Thomson, 4 September 2017

According to Malcolm Farrow's Colours of the Fleet [frr94],

“Chief of the General Staff (Australia). Authorised 1/10/1992.
In 1992 the defacing badge of CGS(Australia) was changed from the traditional British Army crown and lion device in favour of the Australian Army General Service badge.”

David Prothero, 1 October 2005

This information does not agree with that supplied by the Australian Army in 2011. No significance has so far been found for the 1 October 1992 date, in terms of the Chief of the General Staff appointees or the flag. It may relate to the addition of the Rising Sun badge to other Army flags, but this is only speculation.
Jeff Thomson, 15 July 2017

This flag originally displayed the 1991 (seventh) pattern Australian Army Badge (Rising Sun badge). From 1 August 2025 the badge was updated to the August 2025 (eighth) pattern, reflecting the change of Monarch to King Charles III. The eighth pattern badge was not intended to appear on the Chief of Army's Flag immediately, but only after flag stocks with the seventh pattern badge were used up.
Jeff Thomson, 16 December 2025

Former Chief of General Staff Flag

image by Miles Li, crest by Martin Grieve, 25 April 2017

The Chief of Army (formerly Chief of General Staff) flag is the Australian National Flag with the Royal Crest (crowned lion standing on crown) in full colours at the centre of the lower half of the flag.
Miles Li, 27 February 2002

The illustration above was drawn according to Flags of All Nations [hms58], which specified it as a car flag, 6 inches by 9 inches in size. However a full-sized version in proportions of 1:2 was also known to have existed. Also, the crest in this illustration has the "King's Crown", therefore it depicts the way the flag appeared before 1952.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Note that the above image shows the earlier car-flag version with imperial crowns. These changed to St Edward's crowns with Queen Elizabeth's reign. The Royal Crest design was approved at an Australian Military Board meeting on 10 May 1946, and the flags were included in the Australian Military Regulations and Orders (AMR&Os) from 27 February 1947. The personal flag was six feet by three feet and the car-flag was nine inches by six inches. The prescription was for the 'Chief of the General Staff - Flag, Blue Ensign of the Commonwealth with Royal Crest in gold embroidered on both sides'. When the flag provisions of the AMR&Os were cancelled in January 1955, a temporary authorisation AHQ A55 / 1 / 82 (A5) was made on 10 February 1955 and continued until the flags were included in the Manual of Ceremonial 1958. This manual appears to have been taken as sufficient authorisation for these and other Army flags for many years thereafter.

The final approval for use of the Royal Crest flag was by Defence Instruction (General) ADMIN 12-1 Amendment List 14 dated 22 May 1990. The emblem was the Royal Crest in gold; the flag dimensions were 900 mm by 1800 mm. The car-flag dimensions were 150 mm by 230 mm. The last CGS was Lieutenant General John Sanderson with his term ending on 18 February 1997. He was appointed as the first Chief of Army on 19 February 1997, and this flag continued in use as a Chief of Army's personal flag for another four and a half years until replaced by the flag with the Rising Sun and swords badge on 24 August 2001.
Jeff Thomson, 15 October 2015

Chief of Australian Imperial Military Force (WWII)

The flag of the Chief of Australian Imperial Military Force (WWII) was the Australian National Flag with the army 'Rising Sun' in gold at the centre of the lower half of the flag. (source: recent Flag Society of Australia meeting in Sydney )
Miles Li, 27 February 2002

On 19 November 1941 in a military ceremony at the Sydney Cenotaph, General Sir Thomas Blamey was presented with a personal flag by representatives of the RSL (now the Returned & Services League of Australia). This was most likely a Commonwealth Blue Ensign with the May 1904 (third) pattern Rising Sun badge (without swords) embroidered in gold on both sides. The flag was sent to General Blamey's headquarters in the Middle East and later returned with him to Australia where it was flown at his headquarters from 5 July 1942. This or a similar flag was ceremonially lowered for the last time by Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Dwyer at General Blamey's retirement dinner on 30 November 1945, at the Engineer-in-Chief's mess in Melbourne.

There was a car-flag version of this flag, prescribed in several wartime Orders (GROs) from 1942. The final version of the Orders that dealt with car-flags (GRO A 391 / 1944) was cancelled no later than February 1947. The flag prescription was 'General Officer Commanding-in-Chief - Commonwealth Blue Ensign, with badge of Australian Military Forces in gold on both sides'. The flag measured nine inches by six inches.
Jeff Thomson, 15 October 2015