Our Murray River

The Murray River

 

The Yorta Yorta people are the traditional custodians of the land we now call Echuca Moama. The waters of "Dhungala" (The Murray River) are sacred to the Yorta Yorta people, with many of their beliefs, traditions and stories extending from it. 

Named by the Yorta Yorta people as a place that means ‘meeting of the waters,’ Echuca is the spot where the Goulburn and the Campaspe rivers join the Murray. 

The Murray River stretches for over 2,600 kilometers, from the Great Dividing Range in the north east of Victoria to its mouth at Goolwa in South Australia.
 
The Murray River is one of the world’s longest navigable rivers and a major source of water for much of south-eastern Australia.
 
The river’s standing as one of the greatest in the world has been recognized since the late nineteenth century.
 
The Murray is the lifeblood of the agricultural industry for much of inland Victoria and is often referred to as the ‘food bowl’ of Australia.


Murray River Flag

The Murray River Flag is flown from paddlesteamers and other vessels in that ply the waters of the Murray Darling river system. Thea earliest recorded reference to the Murray Flag was at Goolwa to honour the first paddle steamer to go into service on the Murray River " The Mary Ann". 

It's the only flag in the world to be named in honour of a river.
 
MR FLag

The flag bears a red cross with four horizontal blue bars. The cross being charged with 5 stars as emblems of the Colonies while the upper corner is taken up with British connections which is depicted by the Union Jack. It is believed that the blue bars represent the four major rivers the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan and Darling.

Today the Murray River is represented by two flags. The Upper Murray Flag has darker blue bands on its flag, representing the darker waters of the river's upper reaches. The Lower Murray Flag, used predominantly in South Australia, is distinguished by the use of pale blue bands representing the lighter coloured waters of the lower reaches of the Murray.

Subscribe

Receive Echuca Moama deals, travel inspiration, upcoming events and more...

#visitechucamoama

<