Boxing Kangaroo

The boxing kangaroo, which is often displayed by Australian fans at events such as football, cricket, tennis, commonwealth games and the Olympics, was designed in 1983. The flag that bears the symbol has since been considered Australia’s’ “sporting flag.”

Measuring: 100 cm / 39.4 inches

A video of kangaroo boxing each other.

History

 The idea was taken from what the kangaroo does when faced by an attacker. When a kangaroo is defending itself from an attacker it uses its arms (forelegs) to keep the attacker in place while using the claws on its hind legs to kick, or hit the gut of the attacker. This makes it look like the kangaroo is boxing the attacker.

The image of the boxing kangaroo can be dated back to at least 1891, in which a cartoon by Professor Lendermann titled “Jack-the fighting kangaroo” appeared in a Sydney newspaper. The image was inspired by traveling shows which were held in the late 19^th Century featuring kangaroos wearing gloves fighting against men. Following this was the emergence of the boxing kangaroo in films that were sold worldwide like Das Boxende Kangaruuh-a short black and white silent documentary featuring a kangaroo fighting against a man (Mr. Delaware) which was directed and produced by a German, Max Skladanowsky in 1895.  Birt Acres, also produced a silent English film in 1896 featuring fighting kangaroos and after that, there have been short animated American films like The Boxing Kangaroo in 1920, Mickey’s kangaroo 1935 and Pop I’m Pop in 1949. These films helped establish the boxing kangaroo as a popular culture. Immediately after in 2003 came the funny family movie Kangaroo Jack- produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

The Royal Australian Force also established the boxing kangaroo as their national symbol by having them stenciled on their aircraft- the No. 21 Squadron RAAF to differentiate them from the British planes and this spread to other units including their navy ships. After 1983 a flag bearing the image of a golden kangaroo in red gloves, and a green background was bought from Alan Bond (owner of the Australia 11 yacht) by the Australian Olympic Committee making it the mascot for the Australian Olympic team and also promoting fair play in other sports in schools. Leading to the 2010 Winter Olympics a controversy arose as the International Olympic committee ordered that a big statue of the boxing Kangaroo and flag in an Australian athletes’ balcony be removed because they believed it was too commercial a symbol. They received lots of criticism including from the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard as the athletes refused to take it down unless they received a formal letter asking them to do so. After a meeting with the Australian Olympic Committee they decided to let the flag stay where it was.

The boxing kangaroo is Australia’s national personification-and is at times used to refer to the country or identify its unique cultural, geographical and social attributions. It is a part of the country’s history-the boxing kangaroo has become so famous such that if spotted anywhere most people know it represents Australia.