The flag was designed by Robert Ingpen, a Victorian illustrator, and incorporates the Territorian colours of black and ochre and a stylised Sturt's Desert Rose, its floral emblem. The southern cross appears in the black pale at the hoist. Note that the Southern Cross is of the Victorian form, with the number of points on the stars ranging from five to eight.

The flag of the Northern Territory was the first official Australian flag to not contain the Union Flag of the United Kingdom (Union Jack). Its style of dividing the field "per pale" with a one-third/two-thirds split is unique and has created an Australian vexillogical style called the "Australian pale".

This flag also inspired the subsequent design of the Australian Capital Territory flag. The "Australian pale" has now firmly established itself as an indigenous Australian vexillogical style, and in recognition of its success, is used in the proposed flags for all the states shown at this web site.

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