Draft:Parliament House Puzzle

There is a debate known as the Parliament House Puzzle concerning the type of Australian flags used at the 1927 opening ceremony of the Old Parliament House, Canberra. The subject of the flag arrangements at the opening ceremony has been often discussed by scholars of vexillology and further to the republican debate in Australia. At issue is whether the Australian flags flown from the facade poles on the capitol building and elsewhere are predominantly red or blue.

Background
Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, it was provided by section 125 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act that the seat of government be situated in a Commonwealth territory being an area of not less than 100 square miles surrendered by the state of New South Wales and not less than 100 miles from the state capital Sydney. This was a compromise among Australia's founding fathers to the competing claims of Sydney and Melbourne to be the nation's capital city. Until the Federal Capital Territory was partitioned and a provisional parliament house constructed, the federal parliament would continue to sit at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building in the interim. The capitol building was eventually opened in 1927 at a ceremony attended by the Duke of York and his wife Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

Arguments for the red ensign


There is an eyewitness account by the correspondent for The West Australian that states: "The sunlight streamed through the crimson of drooping flags". The official portrait by Septimus Power also features the Australian red ensign, which Dr Elizabeth Kwan theorises was favoured by the commissioned artist for dramatic effect. Power was noted for his ability to "create a feeling of movement and drama". Kwan says that Power might have been using artistic license "to highlight the St. George crosses in the Union Jacks and the carpet leading from the duke's carriage to the main entrance" or because the civil ensign is predominantly red. Yet Kwan concludes that the opening of the capitol building is "surely an occasion for the Commonwealth's official flag", the predominantly blue ensign.

Arguments for the blue ensign


Kwan's seminal Flag and Nation published in 2006, featured a never-before-mentioned colour lithograph of the opening ceremony by an unknown artist that features the predominantly blue ensign. Kwan says the photographic evidence is inconclusive however, "A commemorative lithograph with the duke's address and MPs signatures shows blue ensigns". A sketch of the original plan by the Federal Capital Commission suggested there would be only Australian blue ensigns accompanying the Duke of York's standard. The Royal Visit Cabinet Committee in March 1927 confirmed "that the 'Commonwealth Flag', not the Union Jack" would fly along with the duke's flag on "Parliament House in the morning and at the armed forces review in the afternoon". In the event, Australian flags of some description and the Union Jack are evident.