The Ngarrindjeri Flag represents the Ngarrindjeri people who populated and are the traditional owner of land on the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, the entire Coorong, Lake Alexandrina and lower Murray River before the British colonisation of South Australia.

Background

The flag was designed in 1999 by Matt Rigney, a Ngarrindjeri person, and first flown and raised on 21 November 1999 near the Hindmarsh Island Bridge, which four years earlier was the subject of controversy and culminated in a controversial royal commission. Over 300 Ngarrindjeri people and supporters were present when it was raised.[3]

Design

The blue represents the waters of the Ngarrindjeri nation and the 18 dots represent the 18 Laklinyeris or tribes that form the Ngarrindjeri nation.[1]

Ngarrindjeri Land

The sun is represented as the giver of life, the boomerang is called a sacred boomerang that when thrown the leaders of different Laklinyeris would meet in a Tendi to make and interpret the local Ngarrindjeri law.[2][4]

The red represents mother nature, and the two spears are traditional fishing spears.[2][4][5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Multiple sources say the date of the adoption and the flag first being flown was either on 21 November[1] or 22 November 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ngarrindjeri Nation Yarluwar-Ruwe Plan" (PDF). Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association Inc. Retrieved 14 April 2026 – via Alexandrina Council.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ngarrindjeri Nation (Australia)". Flags of the World. www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "Ngarrindjeri People; Rigney, Matt --- "Proclamation of Ngarrindjeri Dominium" [2000] IndigLawB 3; (2000) 4(26) Indigenous Law Bulletin 11". www5.austlii.edu.au.
  4. 1 2 "The Ngarrindjeri Nation". Australian Indigenous Governance Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Ngarrindjeri Nation Flag 1999". Australiana Flags. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngarrindjeri_Flag