State Flag of Victoria by xuessium
The Victorian state flag was created as a colonial flag - a British Blue Ensign with the badge of the colony added to the blue field. Because some of the Australian state badges were originaly created to represent the Governor (as distinct from the Colony) they generally showed some element of British royal heraldry - the main criteria being that it be different from similar badges used in other parts of the Empire. The Crown Victoria badge represented the status of the Governor as representative of Queen Victoria in the Colony. Victoria adopted the Southern Cross in 1870 initially for use on the HMCS Nelson - one of the early warships of the Colonial Navy. The Southern Cross had become fairly well associated with Australia during the 19th Century.Ralph Kelly
extracted from:
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/au-vic.html