Australia holds day of mourning for queen with art, flowers

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has honored Queen Elizabeth II with a day of mourning and a wreath of golden wattle — the plant that blooms in Australia’s national colors in the southern spring. The floral wreath was placed at Parliament House, which Elizabeth opened on a visit three decades ago. There was also a portrait of the former monarch of Britain and Australia in a dress adorned with golden wattle motifs that she wore in Australia in 1954. The holiday was marked by some protests that focused on the harm British colonization caused Indigenous Australians. Governor-General David Hurley said he respected that the reaction was shaped by colonial history and the nation’s reconciliation journey.