Tai Tuivasa Flag: The Controversial History Behind the UFC Heavyweight’s Aboriginal Colors

Apart from a handful of fighters, most fighters fighting under the UFC banner have often carried the flag of their native country, while walking to the Octagon or while celebrating after a victory. However, for heavyweight star Tai Tuivasa, things aren’t the same. ‘Bam Bam’ has often been seen carrying an Aboriginal flag instead of the Australian flag, the country where he’s from.

The UFC is back in Perth for yet another pay-per-view that features some amazing Australian talent, including the popular Tai Tuivasa, who has a do-or-die fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Maybe ‘Bam Bam’ walks to the Octagon waving the Aboriginal flag, which begs the question: why does he carry that flag? Let’s take a deeper dive into that.

When Tai Tuivasa carried the Aboriginal flag into the octagon

Tai Tuivasa has indigenous origins as he belongs to a mixed Wiradjuri and Samoan ethnicity. He even has several tattoos on his body that signify his roots and the Samoan culture, showcasing the pride he has in his indigenous background. To showcase the love he has for his community, Tuivasa carried the Aboriginal flag first when he headlined a UFC event in 2018, becoming the first Aboriginal fighter to do so.

Then again, Tai Tuivasa carried his Aboriginal flag once again at UFC 269, when he fought Augusto Sakai, who he put to sleep with a knockout in the second round. The community of people that ‘Bam Bam’ represents used to reside in the Island country of Australia before British colonialism.

Moreover, the Wiradjuri people were known to be one-of-a-kind hunters, fishers, and gathered, and the Aboriginal flag was adopted to be their identity back in 1995. But did you know that there’s a complicated history behind this flag? Well, let’s move over to that part now.

The controversial history of the Australian Aboriginal flag

Although the Aboriginal flag was adopted by Australia in 1995, the introduction was done long back in 1970. It was created by artist-cum-activist Harold Thomas, who himself belongs to the community of Aboriginal Australians, especially from the Luritja community. The flag has three colors – black, which represents the Aboriginal people as a whole; yellow, which represents the sun; and red, which signifies the Aboriginal people’s connection with the land. However, this flag has never been without controversies.

The primary controversy that the Aboriginal flag found itself wrapped around stemmed from the question of the right to use it and the design of the flag. When the maker of the flag, Harold Thomas, granted permission in the form of licenses to various companies to make use of the flag, they often went against certain aboriginal institutions and organizations. This inadvertently led to the ‘Free the Flag’ campaign, in 2019, followed by an inquiry by the Senate during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020.

However, in 2022, the government finally decided to make a move to buy the rights of the flag from Harold Thomas at an estimated value of $13.75 million, which people believe freed the Aboriginal flag.

It will be interesting to see if Tai Tuivasa walks out to the Aboriginal flag once again at UFC 305. Meanwhile, let us know if you found this information helpful in the comments down below.