| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Colors | Blue, White, and Red. |
Introduction
This volcanic archipelago is located away from the southwestern parts of the main territory of the Australian Commonwealth, in the southern Indian Ocean. There is no official flag of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and they use the national flag of Australia.
History
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands were first discovered by Captain John Heard, a mariner from the United States while he was traveling from Boston to Melbourne on the vessel Oriental on November 25, 1853. Unexpectedly, Captain William McDonald on the Samarang ship found the McDonald Islands near Heard Island soon after that on January 4, 1854. The archipelago is known for several ship ruins near the islands. Since 1947, it was a division of Australia and in 1997, was recognized as a World Heritage Site.
The flag of Australia has traditionally been used as the flag of the islands. The flag has a blue background with the Union Jack on the upper left side. There is also a big seven-pointed star in the bottom left side; the rest is a symbolization of the Southern Cross group of white stars with one tiny five-pointed star and four, bigger, seven-pointed stars on the right side.
