South Australia, 1904

The flag of South Australia is a British Blue Ensign defaced with the state badge, depicting a white-backed Piping Shrike, a kind of magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen leuconota), its wings outstretched, on a yellow disc. It is believed to have been designed by Robert Craig of the Adelaide School of Arts, or by H. P. Gill, its director, although it has also been attributed to artist Frances Jane Warhurst who based it on the eagle on the seal of the Prussian consul. The impetus for a new state badge appears to date back to 1901 when South Australia became a state of the new Australian nation. The flag was adopted on 13 January 1904.