farmdoc's blog post number 193

Henry Ross, born in Canada in 1829, died in Ballarat in 1854, of gunshot wounds received in the gold miners’ revolt at the Eureka Stockade. He’s credited with designing the Eureka flag. The Eureka Rebellion, as it’s called, was a revolt by Ballarat gold miners against punitive governmental authority. Though the battle, on 3 December 1854, between ramshackle miners and a trained military regiment, was hopelessly one-sided and lasted only 15 minutes, the miners’ objectives were achieved. Therefore the Eureka Rebellion and its flag have come to symbolise two things: the underdog opposing overwhelming authority, and unity (there were 20 nationalities among the Eureka miners). Which probably explains why the Eureka flag has been waved by supporters of the Melbourne Victory soccer club ‘since day dot’. Last week the Football Federation of Australia banned the Eureka flag from matches as part of a ban on any ‘flag or emblem which might be considered national or political’, other than the Australian flag. The rule’s aimed at ensuring ethnic and political tensions are absent from A-League games. Melbourne Victory’s supporters saw this ban as an act of unjust authority, so they rebelled against it. The Club supported them. And last Monday the Federation backed down and allowed the flag. The spirit of Eureka lives! Henry Ross would be proud. And our nation is much the better for it.