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Australia: Ned Kelly banners

Ned Kelly banner

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Ned Kelly banner

Ned Kelly (1854-1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police; per Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly. Kelly's helmet, full-frontal armour, and rifle are on display at the "State Library Victoria": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Library_Victoria. The helmet, breastplate, backplate and shoulder plates show 18 bullet marks from his last gunfight. His admirers believe his last words before being hung were: "Such is life", but there is no credible documentation noting them.
William Garrison, 17 December 2024

Ned Kelly is a folklore character who is considered by many to have been wrongfully treated by the Victorian Police and he is considered by many to have been a folk-hero crusading against oppression and he had many sympathisers at the time. The Jerilderie Letter was written by Ned Kelly to explain how he became an outlaw due to the injustices of police treatment of him and his family, he implored rich land owners to share their wealth with the rural poor and he invoked the history of Irish rebellion against the English.

Ned Kelly flags seem to have only been made in small numbers (probably 8 copies only) by only one flag retailer. They are intended as man-cave decorations, rather as flags for flying. The maker also has other designs featuring ANZACs, hot-rods and other designs suitable for decorating a man-cave. These limited edition cloth objects are on the border-line of being described as flags - perhaps banners is a better term.
Ralph Kelly, 17 December 2024

image located by William Garrison, 18 December 2024

This yellow/(goldenish)-and-green flag features a silhouette of Australian historical figure Ned Kelly holding a rifle, accompanied by the phrase the boys in green & gold will win. This design gained prominence during protests by Australians opposing the Israeli incursion into Lebanon (c. June 2024), symbolizing solidarity and resistance while reflecting Australia s unique cultural identity (Ned Kelly). This flag reimages the Hezbollah flag of Lebanon with a silhouette of the Australian rebel Ned Kelly wearing a crude full-head "bucket" helmet. Ned Kelly (1854-1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police; per WIkipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly. Kelly's helmet, full-frontal armour, and rifle are on display at the "State Library Victoria": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Library_Victoria. The helmet, breastplate, backplate and shoulder plates show 18 bullet marks. [The 2003 film "Ned Kelly" glamorized him wearing it.]
William Garrison, 18 December 2024

The context in which the flag appeared is relevant. There had been several pro-Gaza protests in the prior week in Sydney and Melbourne and the police had banned the use of the Hezbollah flag, as the flag of a terrorist organisation. I believe the Ned Kelly Gaza flag was an attempt to confuse the police and media into thinking it was related to Ned Kelly in a similar way to the use of the Eureka Flag. It worked, because the flying of the disguised Hezbollah flag was determined on legal advice not to create an offence because it was not actually a flag of Hezbollah. The raised arm holding a rifle and 6-leafed branch and globe were very similar to the Hezbollah flag and the helmet was visually similar to the main part of the Hezbollah emblem at a distance. The motto of the boys in green & gold will win was a further attempt to disguise the flag as a typical Australian green & gold sporting supporters flag, though it was also appropriate to the fact that the Hezbollah flag is in green & gold. The ABC reported that the man holding the flag said the flag was in support of an Australian sports team though he was overheard telling rally marshals he was unhappy with the ban on the Hezbollah flag". One of the flags was flown on the same pole as Iranian and Iraqi flags. There were also blank yellow flags and yellow flags with the Lebaneses cedar in green. As one protestor told police inspecting the flag Clever, huh? The resistance is always evolving.
Ralph Kelly, 18 December 2024