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In December 1865, the Colonial Office in London informed Governor Bowen that the Lord’s Commissioners of the Admiralty had approved the use of a blue ensign with an emblem of the new colony of Queensland on all navy vessels.
In March 1876, after some contemplation, the suggestion to use a silhouette of a young Queen Victoria on a Queensland State flag was found to be impractical. Other suggestions included images of lions and a cross with a central eight-point star.
On 29 November 1876, Queensland’s first official flag was unfurled with an imperial crown inside a Maltese Cross. It is not entirely clear if this gesture was to honour Lady Bowen from the Ionian Islands or to recognise the Victoria Cross for gallantry introduced by Queen Victoria in 1857 after the Indian Mutiny.
The flag remained in use until 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II adopted the Crown of St Edward at her coronation.
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 | Letter from the Treasurer to Governor William Cairns expressing regret that Queen Victoria’s image could not be used on the proposed Queensland flag, 15 March 1876. The Royal Lion was prominent in ideas for the flag’s design.
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1139521, Digital Image ID 2933 Office of the Governor of Queensland
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 | 1876 Telephone patented by Alexander Graham Bell | |
1876 Four-stroke internal combustion engine invented by Nikolaus Otto |
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