Key Points
- First nations flags will be flown at all FIFA Women's World Cup matches.
- It's the first time such a decision has been made at a World Cup.
- The decision has been applauded by football bodies in Australia and New Zealand.
Indigenous flags of Australia and New Zealand will be flown at all Women's World Cup games, after football's governing body FIFA approved a request from Australian and New Zealand football organisations.
It's the first time such a decision has been made for a football World Cup.
Australia's national flag, the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag will be displayed at the 35 matches played in Australia.
And the Maori flag, known as Tino Rangatiratanga, and the New Zealand national flag will feature at the 29 matches in New Zealand.
The tournament runs from 20 July to 20 August.
"These significant flags express a spirit of mutual respect, national identity, and recognition of Indigenous cultures for our hosts," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Friday.
Football Australia chief executive officer James Johnson described the approval as an "important moment for all Australians, particularly First Nations people".
"This decision aligns with the values of our organisation with diversity and inclusion at the core of what we are about as a governing body and our vision for the tournament," he said.
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Minister for Sport Anika Wells and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney "unequivocally supported this cause", Johnson said.
There's been a lot of people at the table on this issue. We have our NIAG group – the National Indigenous Advisory Group — and we've talked to them about the importance of really driving this issue.
"And it's a complicated issue for FIFA because of the precedent it can set going forward."
FIFA also took advice from its own all-women First Nations and Māori cultural panel, known as First Sisters of Country, Whānau by sea and sky.
New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell also applauded the approval from FIFA.
"Hosting ... provides an opportunity to shape the way the tournament evolves and interacts with its hosts in future editions and in particular in recognising the rights of Indigenous people worldwide," he said.
"Flying Tino Rangatiratanga at the tournament alongside the official country flag is a powerful symbol."
Indigenous pair Kyah Simon and Lydia Williams and their Matildas teammates famously posed with the Aboriginal flag before kick-off of their first group game against New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Kyah Simon said she has relished seeing members of her family in the stands with the Aboriginal flag. Source: AAP
The game's governing body has already confirmed one of the eight armbands available for captains to wear at this month's tournament is a red 'Unite for Indigenous Peoples' option.
Cathy Freeman holding up the Australian and Aboriginal flags after she won gold in the 400m at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
But the 32-year-old, a proud Anaiwan woman who has fought back from an ACL tear to earn a World Cup berth on home soil, has previously relished seeing members of her family in the stands with the Aboriginal flag.
"For me, obviously, I'm proud of our culture and our First Nations people in the country," Simon told reporters on Monday.
"Every major tournament, my family's come along and brought their own Aboriginal flag and for me that's obviously a part of my history and my culture and to see my family in the crowd, obviously holding up the flag as well, is something that's close to home for me.
"There's no better place than being here on home soil in Australia to display our Indigenous First Nations culture and heritage and I'm hoping that people that come from abroad can see that rich culture that we do have here and also be educated along the way."
Football Australia had welcomed news of the Indigenous Peoples armband and indicated it expected a decision on the flags this week.
