What's wrong with the Union Jack?

The Union Jack in the corner of the flag has traditionally been the flag of a British colony. In fact, the United Kingdom still has 14 British Overseas Territories, all but one of which use the Union Jack on their flag:

AnguillaAnguilla BermudaBermuda  British Antarctic Territory British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean TerritoryBritish Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin Islands Cayman IslandsCayman Islands
 Falkland Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar 1875-1982Gibraltar 1875-1982 GibraltarGibraltar MontserratMontserrat PitcairnPitcairn St. Helena and DependenciesSt. Helena and Dependencies
South Georgia and South Sandwich IslandsSouth Georgia and South Sandwich Islands British Sovereign Base Areas in CyprusBritish Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus Turks and Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos Islands

And many former British colonies used the Union Jack. Below is a table, by no means exhaustive.

AdenAden Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and Barbuda AustraliaAustralia BahamasBahamas BarbadosBarbados British Central AfricaBritish Central Africa
British GuyanaBritish Guyana British HondurasBritish Honduras CanadaCanada CyprusCyprus East AfricaEast Africa FijiFiji
GrenadaGrenada LagosLagos MauritiusMauritius New ZealandNew Zealand Niger CoastNiger Coast NigeriaNigeria
Southern NigeriaSouthern Nigeria North BorneoNorth Borneo NyasalandNyasaland Rhodesia and NyasalandRhodesia and Nyasaland SeychellesSeychelles Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands
SomalilandSomaliland TuvaluTuvalu

Do you notice a pattern here?

Now, how many of these independent former colonies still use the Union Jack?

Four:

AustraliaAustralia FijiFiji New ZealandNew Zealand TuvaluTuvalu

Kind of embarassing really.

Why do Fiji, New Zealand and Tuvalu keep the Union Jack on their flag? I don't know, that's their business.

What is clear, however, is that the Union Jack - in particular the "Blue Ensign" theme - is the mark of a British colony. As such, it is inappropriate for the flag of a fully independent country like Australia.

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