New South Wales State Information          The flag of New South Wales is a British Blue Ensign to which has been added the state badge. The badge depicts the cross of St George in red on a white disc. At the extremity of each arm of the cross is an eight-pointed gold star, and in the centre of the cross is a golden lion passant guardant. This flag was adopted in 1876 to meet the requirements of the British Colonial Naval Defence Act of 1865. No specific meaning for the badge included was given when the design was sent to London for approval. This extract about the flag is adapted from information on the following site: http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/nsw.html#Nation The floral emblem of NSW is the waratah,Telopea speciosissima, which was proclaimed the official floral emblem of New South Wales on 24 October 1962. Robert Brown(1773-1858) named the genus Telopea in 1810 from specimens collected in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Copyright for image rests with © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, Director of National Parks and Wildlife, Commonwealth of Australia, Environment Australia, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and others. To read more about the waratah, go to http://www.anbg.gov.au/emblems/nsw.emblem.html New South Wales, Australia - an interesting part of the world. Want to find out more about New South Wales? Here is a good place to start! http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/nsw.html#Nation And here's an Aboriginal Dreamtime story on how the waratah was made: http://www.artistwd.com/joyzine/australia/dreaming/waratah.htm