Corinna, Australia's flag is red, white and blue for the same reason the United States' flag is, I suspect. We're all from the mother country with the Union Jack. So have you ever seen the flag of the state of Hawaii? Go here and you'll see it
http://www.theodora.com/flags/state_flags/hi-s.gif Hawaii was once part of the UK. In fact the US and the UK fought over possession of Hawaii. So it's flag has the Union Jack for the field and the stripes for the US. But there are only 8 stripes, one for each island in the chain.
Glad you enjoyed my little snippet. I may be inspired to do more.
Artemis
