Boxing kangaroo

The Boxing Kangaroo ( Boxendes 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, which are supported by the Australian athletes. The position of the kangaroos corresponds to the natural defensiveness of the animals in them with their front legs trying to keep attackers at bay while they come after them with their hind legs. Variants of the flag additionally lead the Southern Cross in gold next to the kangaroo.

Your second name, Boxing Matilda, has the flag after the Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda.

History

For the first time dipped boxendes Kangaroo 1891 in a drawing in a newspaper from Sydney. She showed "Jack, the fighting kangoroo with Professor Lendermann ". During this time showed showman kangaroos who entered with boxing gloves against people.

The 21 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force used in 1941 in Malaya during the Second World War, the boxing kangaroo as an icon on their airplanes because they would otherwise have been confused with British units. Designed had the kangaroo Gus Bluett. Other units and the Royal Australian Navy took over the icon.

In the America's Cup in 1983, the Australian yacht Australia II the owner Alan Bond won with the green- yellow boxing kangaroo flag as a symbol. Bond the copyrights had registered for the mass production of the flag. This was not an isolated case in Australia, as well as the flag of the Aboriginal people is copyrighted. The Australian Olympic Committee bought in the late 1980 Bond from the rights to the symbol for 80,000 Australian dollars. The boxing kangaroo is now mainly used in schools to promote the sport and fairness.

Meanwhile, the flag is especially popular with sports fans who use it as a national symbol in the different sports. But with the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000, there were disputes after the organizers had prohibited to use other flags as the official national flags. It is believed that this action was directed against the flag of Aboriginal, but that also the boxing kangaroo was banished.

Again for dispute caused the flag at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Here Australian athletes had hung kangaroo flag on the balcony of their room at the Olympic Village. The International Olympic Committee wanted to prohibit this, as it looked behind unauthorized commercial advertising, is strictly prohibited. It was only after a meeting between IOC President Jacques Rogge and the President of the Australian Olympic Committee John Coates was permitted for athletes to have the flag hanging.

The flag dispute about a change in the national flag of Australia the green-yellow kangaroo flag has inspired several proposals for a new flag of Australia.