SYDNEY, (Reuters) – The Australian government announced Tuesday that it has acquired the copyright to the Aboriginal Flag so it can freely be used. This resolves a commercial dispute which had prevented sporting teams from using the flag and Aboriginal communities being able to reproduce it.

Since 1995 the Aboriginal flag has been recognized as Australia’s official flag. The flag can be seen flying from government buildings, and is embraced every day by sport clubs.

According to the government, on the eve Australia Day, it was possible for the flag to be used without payment or permission after a contract with Harold Thomas (indigenous artist).

Thomas wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday that he made the red, yellow, and black flag in 1971 to lead demonstrations and that it has become an emblem of pride and indigenous unity.

“The flag represents the timeless history of our land and our people’s time on it,” he said in a statement.

Thomas has been paid $20 million by the government. This was in addition to extinguishing licences that were held by small companies. These licenses have been causing controversy ever since 2018, when some of these companies demanded payment to reproduce the flag.

2020 parliamentary inquiry: The licence holder demanded payment from sports clubs and health institutions. Communities could be forced to stop using the flag in order to avoid being sued.

Nova Peris, a former Olympian from Australia, led the “Free the Flag!” campaign.

Ken Wyatt (Minister for Indigenous Australians) stated that the flag was an important symbol of Aboriginal culture.

In a statement, he stated that “Over 50 years we have made Harold Thomas’ art our own” and that he marched under it, stood by it, and flew the flag high as a matter of pride.

“Now that copyright is owned by the Commonwealth, everyone has it and nobody can remove it.”

Australia Day festivities, which are celebrated with a public holiday Jan. 26 in Australia, have been controversial due to the fact that the indigenous Australians view the date as marking the British invasion of their country.

The date that a British fleet entered Sydney Harbour in 1788 is this. It was the day they saw the land unoccupied even though it had settlements.

It has been debated whether or not to change the date of the national holiday.