The Australian Flag

The following quote is (as usual, misleading- what else can we expect from John Howard?) from the Prime Minister's web site for kids:
"When the Australian colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, the Union Jack had been the official flag for 100 years to the day. A new nation raised an urgent demand for a new emblem. An official competition for a design was arranged, which attracted 32,823 entries. Five of these, which contained almost identical designs, were placed equal first. Apart from later changes in the magnitudes of the stars and the number of points, they had produced the present Australian flag."

In actual fact, it was Pig Iron Bob who during World War II: "issued a directive that there should be no restriction on the flying of the "Commonwealth Blue Ensign" and in 1953 "by means of a Commonwealth Act of Parliament - the Flags Act 1953 - the "British Blue Ensign" was proclaimed the national flag. Only since then has it had seniority over the Union Jack."

Prior to this, I understand the history to be that the flag was red, not blue, and the Union Jack was the superior symbol in Australia.
Menzies is usually thought of as the ultimate and ultra Anglophile, so it comes as a surprise to learn that he was such a closet radical!
http://www.ausflag.com.au/ausflag/bhist.html
So next time Grandad starts up about how "we fought for this flag", unless he is talking Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq his memory is probably unreliable!