Qantas absolutely WAS the true flag carrier at one stage in its life, I would find it hard to say they are these days. Now its more of a general term used by the good folks over in marketing to swell patriotic passengers to pick "The Aussie battlers" over superior competitors with much better products. Nothing more. If it wasn't for the Aussie folk buying into the sales pitch of supporting the hometown airline, QF would be a shell of what it is today.