National Museum of Australia - Kangaroo imagery slideshow

Kangaroo imagery slideshow

The kangaroo was one of the earliest Australian symbols adapted by Europeans. It features on the coat of arms, in the decorative arts, on currency and stamps, logos, in wartime imagery and as a mascot for sporting teams.

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Colour illustration of a kangaroo with two joeys in its front pouch. The kangaroo holds a small tree branch with one of its paws and gives leaves to a joey with the other.

This print of a hand-coloured engraving by V Woodthorpe was published in George Barrington's History of New South Wales, published in 1802. Courtesy: National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an7890414.

Union Club lobed tureen, about 1840

Soup tureen with a white base and gold-rimmed lid and handles. The tureen is adorned with elaborate imagery including flowers and curlicules. A black and white kangaroo and emu appear in a stylised coat of arms with 'Union Club' printed in between.

At the Union Club of Hobart's annual dinner of 21 July 1841, members dined for the first time on a new dinner service. Commissioned from Minton & Boyle in England, each article, including this tureen, featured the colonial emblem of the kangaroo and emu and the Union Club's motto 'Ships, Colonies and Commerce'. National Museum of Australia. Photo: George Serras.

'Kangaroo Hunt near Braidwood', about 1870s

Art work showing a country landscape framed by trees either side and hills in the distance. In a grassed clearing at the front a man doffing his hat rides a black horse. Another man on a brown-coloured horse rides alongside him. Two dogs are pictured chasing a bounding kangaroo.

This painting by Richard Wingfield Stuart shows two men and their dogs chasing a kangaroo, remniscent of a traditional English hunting scene. Courtesy: National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an2256919.

'Combine Australia!' cartoon, 1899

Cartoon showing eight kangaroos, wearing striped jackets with the name of the Australian states across the bottom, surounding a lion dressed in a Union Jack cap and holding a cricket bat over his shoulder. Umpire Punch, wearing a cream-coloured dust jacket and black hat stands beside the group. A bag of cricket gear appears in the foreground.

Sporting union preceded Australia's political union. In 1877, 24 years before the Australian colonies federated, an intercolonial cricket team represented Australia in the first test match against England. Its win inaugurated the Ashes series. This cartoon, published in Punch magazine, shows Umpire Punch telling the British lion and Australian state kangaroos: 'You've done really well by combination in the cricket field, and now you're going to federate at home. Bravo, boys!'. National Museum of Australia. Photo: Dragi Markovic.

'Sunny Australia' postcard

Colour postcard showing an Australian bush scene, with 'A Bush Home' illustration inset. The inset shows a male settler standing in front of a slab hut. A kangaroo stands to the left of the inset and a kookaburra is in the bottom right corner of the card.

This postcard from the Joseph Lebovic collection shows a kangaroo and kookaburra framing 'A Bush Home', with a settler standing outside his slab hut. National Museum of Australia. Photo: Jason McCarthy.

Kangaroo and map postage stamp (detail), about 1913

Central portion of a postage stamp with perforated sides. 'Australia Postage' is written across the top and 'Two Shillings' across the bottom. The stamp is rust and white in colour and includes a central illustration of a kangaroo in a map of Australia.

The first Commonwealth of Australia stamp, released in 1913, aroused accusations of republicanism against the government. Where, the press demanded, was the King's portrait? George V appeared on stamps issued following the change of government in 1914. National Museum of Australia. Photo: George Serras.

Kangaroo imagery slideshow

Kangaroo imagery slideshow

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'Kangaroo', 1794

Union Club lobed tureen, about 1840

'Kangaroo Hunt near Braidwood', about 1870s

'Combine Australia!' cartoon, 1899

'Sunny Australia' postcard

Kangaroo and map postage stamp (detail), about 1913