Boxing kangaroo
The boxing kangaroo ( Boxing Kangaroo , also Boxing Matilda ) is the sports flag of Australia .
description
The flag shows a golden, standing kangaroo with red boxing gloves on a green background. Green and gold are the traditional national colors of Australia worn by Australian athletes. The position of the kangaroo corresponds to the natural defensive posture of the animals, in which they try to keep attackers at a distance with their front legs while they kick at them with their hind legs. Variants of the flag also have the Southern Cross in gold next to the kangaroo.
The flag's second name, Boxing Matilda , comes from the Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda .
history
A boxing kangaroo first appeared in a drawing in a Sydney newspaper in 1891. It showed "Jack, the fighting kangoroo with Professor Lendermann". During this time showmen showed kangaroos fighting people with boxing gloves.
The 21st Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force used the boxing kangaroo as a symbol on their aircraft in Malaya in 1941 during World War II , otherwise they would have been mistaken for British units. The kangaroo was designed by Gus Bluett. Other units and the Royal Australian Navy also adopted the symbol.
At the 1983 America's Cup , the Australian yacht Australia II of owner Alan Bond won with the green and yellow boxing kangaroo flag as a symbol. Bond had registered the copyrights for the mass production of the flag. This was not an isolated case in Australia, because the Aboriginal flag is also protected by copyright. The Australian Olympic Committee bought Bond the rights to the symbol for 80,000 Australian dollars in the late 1980s . The boxing kangaroo is now mainly used in schools to promote sport and fairness.
In the meantime, the flag is particularly popular with sports fans who use it as a national symbol in a wide variety of sports. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , however, disputes arose after the organizers forbade the use of flags other than the official national flags . It is believed that this measure was directed against the flag of the Aborigines, but boxing kangaroo was also banned.
The flag caused another dispute at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver . Here Australian athletes had hung the kangaroo flag on the balcony of their room in the Olympic Village. The International Olympic Committee wanted to prohibit this because it saw behind it unauthorized commercial advertising that is strictly prohibited. Only after a meeting between IOC President Jacques Rogge and the President of the Australian Olympic Committee John Coates were the athletes allowed to hang the flag.
In the flag dispute about changing the national flag of Australia , the green and yellow kangaroo flag has inspired various proposals for a new flag of Australia.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b ABC, February 5, 2010, Gloves off over boxing kangaroo dispute
- ↑ a b c d Australian Vexillology ( Memento of the original dated December 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Drawing "Jack, the fighting kangoroo with Professor Lendermann" ( Memento from March 17, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Australia Panorama, February 8, 2010, Olympia: Australia wins controversy over flag with boxing kangaroo ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Flags of the World - Australia: Kangaroo Flag (English)
- Digger History: The Boxing Kangaroo: an Australian icon becomes a flag ( Memento from January 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )