Flag of Tasmania

Tasmania

Use	Civil and state flag
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	25 September 1876; 148 years ago (1876-09-25)
Design	A state badge of a red lion passant on white disk, on a defaced British Blue Ensign.
Standard of the governor of Tasmania
Use	Other
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	February 1977
Design	A state badge of a red lion passant on white disk surmounted by St Edward's Crown, on a defaced British Blue Ensign.

The current state flag of Tasmania was officially adopted following a proclamation by Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld on 25 September 1876, and was first published in the Tasmanian Gazette the same day. The governor's proclamation here were three official flags, they being the Governor's flag, the Tasmania Government vessel flag, and a Tasmania merchant flag. Up until 1856 when Tasmania was granted responsible self-government, the Union flag and the British ensign were primarily used on state occasions.^[1]

The flag consists of a defaced British Blue Ensign with the state badge located in the fly. The badge is a white disk with a red lion passant in the centre of the disk. There is no official record of how the lion came to be included on the flag, but it is assumed that the red lion is a reference to Great Britain.^[2] This flag has remained almost unchanged since 1875, with only a slight change of the style of the lion when the flag was officially adopted by the government in 1975, although this was a mistake, as it had already been officially gazetted by the colonial government in 1876.^[1]