Brooke Boney and the rest of the Today show hit back at the flag ban this morning, calling for all Aboriginal Flags to be worn at the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round of AFL this weekend.
The flag won’t be appearing at this weekend’s Indigenous round, as the new owners of the copyright – a non-Aboriginal clothing company called WAM – charge a licensing fee.
Boney, a Gamilaroi Gomeroi woman and the first Indigenous person on an Australian commercial breakfast program, made her disappointment about the flag ban clear.
The clothing company WAM purchased copyright license to the Aboriginal flag from designer Harold Thomas in 2018. They now have the authority to send cease and desist letters to anyone using the flag without their permission – including the AFL.
“This is a flag that is a symbol of our pride, of our culture, of our struggle, of everything that it means to be Aboriginal and these guys are making money from it,” Boney said.
“I know how much this round of footy means to Indigenous footy players. My mates Goodesy and Mickey O, to deny them of that is actually just disgusting.”
Karl Stefanovic, Ally Langdon and Alex Cullen agreed that the banning of the flag was a disgrace and it shouldn’t be monetised.
“If I had an Aboriginal flag T-shirt I would be wearing it and saying WAM, sue me and I encourage all of you going to the footy this weekend to do the same,” Boney said.
However, Langdon also believed it was an opportunity for the clothing company to “turn around and do the right thing.”
The segment ends with these powerful words from Boney: “Sue me. I’m gonna wear it this weekend.”
