Kangaroos, Wallabies and other Macropodidae have become emblems and symbols of Australia, as well as appearing in popular culture both internationally and within Australia itself.
Kangaroos are part of cultural and spiritual significance for many Indigenous Australians. Since its European discovery, Kangaroos have since become an emblem of Australia, appearing in their coat of arms and in many state and city coat of arms, Australian logos such as the Qantas logo, names of Australian sport teams, mascots such as the Boxing Kangaroo and in public art. Kangaroos are also well represented in film, television, songs, toys and souvenirs around the world.
European first encounters The kangaroo was considered a unique oddity when Captain Cook's HMB Endeavour arrived back in England in 1771 with a specimen on board. Over time it has come to symbolise Australia and Australian values.Harper, Melissa and White, Richard (eds) (2010). Symbols of Australia, p. 28-29, UNSW Press, Sydney: National Museum of Australia Press, Canberra.
Joseph Banks, the naturalist on the Endeavour voyage, commissioned George Stubbs to paint a portrait of the kangaroo specimen. When the official account of the voyage was published in 1773, it was illustrated with an engraving of Stubbs' kangaroo. From that time on, the kangaroo quickly came to symbolise the Australian continent, appearing in exhibitions, collections, art and printed works across Europe.
Kangaroo status It took a long time for the kangaroo to achieve official recognition in Australia. Despite being a "declared noxious animal" because of its reputation for damaging crops and fences and competing with domestic animals for resources, the kangaroo finally achieved official recognition with its inclusion on Australia's coat of arms in 1908.Harper, Melissa and White, Richard (eds) (2010). Symbols of Australia, p. 24. UNSW Press, Sydney: National Museum of Australia Press, Canberra. The kangaroo is now popularly regarded as Australia's unofficial animal emblem.Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: About Australia – National Icons
Kangaroo emblems and logos
The kangaroo and emu are bearers on the Australian Coat of Arms. It has been claimed these animals were chosen to signify a country moving 'forward' because of a common belief that neither can move backward.Harper, Melissa and White, Richard (eds) (2010). Symbols of Australia, p. 25. UNSW Press, Sydney: National Museum of Australia Press, Canberra.
Two red kangaroos serve as bearers to the Coat of Arms of Western Australia.
Australia's national airline, Qantas, uses a bounding kangaroo for its logo. The kangaroo has always been part of the Qantas logo,Qantas: The Kangaroo Symbol and the airline has previously been known informally as "The Flying Kangaroo".
Tourism Australia makes use of the kangaroo in its logo to "help ensure instant recognition for Australia around the world".
The Australian Grown logo uses a golden kangaroo in a green triangle to show that a product is made or grown in Australia.
The Royal Australian Air Force roundel features a bounding red kangaroo.
Warships of the Royal Australian Navy have red kangaroo symbols (based on the kangaroo on the reverse of the Australian penny) fixed to either side of their superstructure or funnel. This originated during the Korean War: as the destroyer was repeatedly mistaken for a British warship, her executive officer had a brass 'weathervane' in the shape of a kangaroo made and mounted to the ship's mainmast.
The kangaroo is part of the official emblem of the Royal Australian Regiment with a kangaroo in between two Lee–Enfield bolt-action rifles.
The Victorian coat of arms includes the upper portion of a kangaroo holding an Imperial Crown in its paws.
The red kangaroo is the animal emblem of the Northern Territory.
The kangaroo is the official emblem of Northern Territory Police.
British clothing and headwear company Kangol, known for its berets, features a kangaroo in its logo.
Kangaroos and coins The kangaroo has been featured on coins on the pre-decimal Australian pound and decimal coins of the Australian dollar. The kangaroo appears on the pre-decimal penny and half-penny coins. Five kangaroos are featured on the one dollar coin.
Kangaroo mascots in Australia
The boxing kangaroo – mascot for the Australia II team in the 1983 America's Cup. This rendition of the kangaroo has become a sporting icon, known informally as the green and gold "Sporting Kangaroo", and is highly popular with cricket crowds and international sporting events which feature Australian participation.
Matilda, the mascot at the 1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was represented by both a cartoon kangaroo and a 13-metre high (42 feet 8 inches) mechanical kangaroo (which winked at the spectators during the opening and closing ceremonies). The 'medal', which was worn by both the cartoon and mechanical versions of Matilda, features the 1982 Commonwealth Games logo — a stylised representation of a kangaroo bounding (in "flight") – similar to the pose of the kangaroo featured on the pre-decimal half-penny coin."1982 Commonwealth Games Mascot," Australian Commonwealth Games Association
During the First World War, pet kangaroos and toy kangaroos were a popular choice of mascot for Australian servicemen.Kangaroo soft toy mascot: Red Cross Hut, Rouelles , Australian War MemorialPhotograph: Australian nurse with a kangaroo mascot, Harefield, England, Australian War Memorial
Architectural references The first uses of Kangaroo ornaments as architectural expression appeared during the Victorian era. This was at first limited to the use of the coat of arms on buildings; however, kangaroos soon became used as decorative motifs on their own in some commercial buildings, particularly in Melbourne.
It was the Federation architecture, however, which brought native ornamentation into the mainstream, so that kangaroos began to be mass-produced as ornamentation on domestic houses in the large cities, as part of an Australiana movement and effort to create a uniquely Australian style. Examples of this decoration include the ornamental terracotta tile capping on residential roofs. Reproduction products using Kangaroos are still used today.
Public art and sculpture
Kangaroo motifs have been used as a form of public art.
Notable examples include:
Victorian lamp post (1880) in front of the Royal Exhibition Building at the Carlton Gardens in Carlton, Victoria Petrie Tableaux sculpture (1989). In front of Brisbane City Hall at King George Square by Stephen Walker Perth kangaroo sculptures (1996, 1997 & 2000). St Georges Terrace, Perth, by Anne Neil, Joan Walsh-Smith, Charles Smith City Roo sculptures (1999). George Street, Brisbane, Queensland – made from scrap metal by Christopher Trotter Eastern grey kangaroo sculpture in the City Botanic Gardens Kangaroo and joey sculpture at Queens Park in Ipswich, Queensland
Decorative arts and design An early depiction of a kangaroo on an item of decorative art is the Macintosh & Degraves Token Shilling 1823.Macintosh & Degraves Token Shilling 1823, Museum Victoria Another early example is the Garret salver. This item of Tasmanian colonial silver incorporates a kangaroo, an emu and wattle branches in its design.Garrett salver, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The kangaroo has continued to be incorporated into decorative designs by craftspeople and designers in Australia and elsewhere in the world. The Terence Lane kangaroo collection at the National Museum of Australia consists of more than 150 objects and ephemera in a wide range of styles produced over a period of 150 years. The collection ranges from a one-metre-high Doulton ceramic kangaroo umbrella stand to small items of jewellery.Terence Lane kangaroo collection , National Museum of Australia
Cultural references
Kangaroos are frequently depicted in films, television, songs, toys and souvenirs around the world.
Television and films Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, star of the 1960s Australian children's television series.
Wake in Fright is a 1971 movie which includes a controversial kangaroo hunting scene containing graphic footage of kangaroos actually being shot. In a more comical vein, the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee features a scene in which the title character frightens away kangaroo hunters by making them think that a kangaroo is shooting back at them.
Matilda is a 1978 movie starring Elliott Gould about a promoter working with a kangaroo.
Kangaroo Jack is the title character of an American film of the same name.
A giant kangaroo is featured in the movie Welcome to Woop Woop.
The Hallmark Properties television series Zoobilee Zoo has a character named Whazzat Kangaroo (the Canadian actress and singer Stephanie Louise "Stevie" Vallance plays this role).
Songs Kangaroos are mentioned, or featured, in the Rolf Harris songs "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" and "Six White Boomers".
Kangaroos are also mentioned in the Peter Allen song "Tenterfield Saddler".
Kangaroos are also mentioned in Holden jingle "Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars".
Kangaroos are also mentioned in the songs "Christmas Where The Gum Trees Grow", "Christmas in the Scrub" and "The Five Days of Christmas".
Books There is a "Sour Kangaroo" in the Dr. Seuss tale Horton Hears a Who!.
Kanga and Roo are fictional mother and son kangaroos in the popular series of children's books about Winnie-the-Pooh.
Kidding Kangaroo in the Sweet Pickles book series by Ruth Lerner Perle, Jacquelyn Reinach and Richard Hefter.
One of the several intelligent races described in the fantasy novel Shadowkeep, written by Alan Dean Foster, are high-bounding, fun-loving marsupials, known as "roos" and obviously meant to be intelligent kangaroos.
A kangaroo is shot and killed by Ernest in The Swiss Family Robinson, a book written by Johann Wyss.
Animation Kiko the Kangaroo is a recurring character in the Terrytoons cartoons.
Kanga and Roo are mother and son kangaroos in the popular series of cartoons about Winnie-the-Pooh.
A team of kangaroo basketball players feature in the French cartoon series Kangoo and its spin-off/prequel Kangoo Juniors.
In several Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, Sylvester the Cat is beaten up by Hippety Hopper the baby kangaroo, who always accomplishes this feat after escaping from the captivity of humans who have attempted to take him to a zoo in assorted American cities and whom Sylvester believes to be a giant mouse.
In Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, the commentators are holding a kangaroo by the leash when the racers reach Australia.
In the British punk style comic strips Tank Girl, the protagonist's boyfriend is Booga, the mutant anthro-kangaroo. There are some other minor kangaroo characters. In the U.S. movie Tank Girl, slightly based on the comic strips, the protagonist is assisted by Rippers – mutant kangaroo genetically engineered supersoldiers (and Booga is among them, of course).
Rocko the wallaby in Rocko's Modern Life.
Dot and the Kangaroo was a cartoon juxtaposed on a film of the Australian bush.
In The Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia", Homer and Bart try to escape from a crowd in the pouches of two kangaroos, but fail because the kangaroos' pouches are filled with mucus.
In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, there is a kangaroo named MacHopper, who is also a parody of Crocodile Dundee, another Australian icon.
In the Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil episode "Bwar and Peace", Brad talks about his Australian self, who afterward was punched, and the kangaroo appears before and during his wedding with the girl he is with. Kick also interacted with the kangaroo.
In the fifth season of The Flintstones, the Rubbles adopt Hoppy, a pet hoparoo (a Stone Age version of a kangaroo) from Down Under, for Bamm-Bamm.
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