August 21^st, 2003

Flag of all nations covers Geelong workers

FORD Australia was presented with a hand-painted Australian flag by students of the Gordon Institute of TAFE last week, but it’s a flag with a difference - embossed with 53 other national flags!

The 53 national flags on the Flag of All Nations are representative of each of the nationalities currently working in Ford Australia's Geelong plant.

The artwork was unveiled at a presentation at the Geelong plant with Ford vice president of manufacturing, Vin May, accepting the flag.

"At Ford we are very proud of our diversity and value the differences in our employees", said Mr May.

"The Flag of All Nations emphasises our multicultural background and we are proud to have it displayed at the Geelong plant." 

Left to right: Steve Panjcox, Melissa Duffield, Vin May, Ford Australia's Vice President of Manufacturing, and Anthony Rivers. Steve, Melissa and Anthony are all 1st Year Graphic Arts students at Gordon Institute College of TAFE

Three students from the first year Graphic Arts course were selected to design and paint the flag, which measures 2.8 metres high and 1.5 metres wide.

"The flag was a great way for us to apply what we had learnt in class onto a real life project", said student Anthony Rivers. "We had to make stencils of each of the different flags so that they could be accurately painted onto the canvas in the right position."

Ford Australia and Gordon Institute of TAFE have had an ongoing relationship over the past two decades which has aimed to maximise educational opportunities in the Geelong community. Other joint projects have included the restoration of Craig Lowndes first Ford Cortina and a competition to design the Ford Alive logo.