In anticipation of the imminent formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1900, the Melbourne Evening Herald newspaper announced a public competition to design a national or, as the paper described it, a “federal” flag, offering a prize of £25 sterling, which was eventually awarded to Mr F. Thompson of Melbourne. The six Australian states were represented by the red stripes. The entries from this competition were later included in the Commonwealth Government’s national flag competition. The Herald Federal flag design was well known and illustrated in many publications in the early 1900s.
The Herald Federal Flag (1900).