The Northern Territory was founded as a Federal Territory on 1 January 1911 and received self government on 1 July 1978. The flag then hoisted was designed by Robert Ingpen, a Victorian illustrator. In the centre of the fly is a stylised Sturt's Desert Rose with seven petals on an ochre field. At the hoist is the Southern Cross, with the number of points on the stars ranging from five to eight, in white on a black panel.