Ninety-five-years ago,thousands of Australian war veterans and the Queensland police fought a bloody pitched battle in the streets of Brisbane over the banned Red Flag of Soviet Russia.

A protest march led by a small group of revolutionary Russians flying the flag sparked weeks of violence throughout the state directed at this emigre community.

The Red Flag was banned during the First World War after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

In 1919, after the end of the Great War, the Russians demanded they be allowed to fly the flag again.

Associate Professor Kevin Windle, from the Australian National University, has written extensively about the riot.

He spoke with Stefan Armbruster about this largely forgotten episode of Russian migrant history.