My first thought was, What an idiot! The BK (boxing kangaroo) flag is owned by the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee), the AOC sends Australian athletes to the Olympics, so the BK flag is as good as an Australian flag -- in the Olympic context. How wrong I was!
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Am I the only fool who believed that the AOC is a government body set up to manage Olympic affairs on behalf of Australians? Total misunderstanding! In my defense, I just never thought about it...
The AOC does not represent Australia. The first "object" of the AOC -- as published in its constitution -- is, "to develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in Australia in accordance with the Olympic Charter and all regulations and directives issued by the IOC". The AOC is the local office of the IOC.
So by flying the BK flag at this year's Winter Olympics the Australian athletes are saying -- consciously or otherwise -- that they are not there for Australia. The flag is telling the world, "We are here for business not for nationalism." Is that good or bad? Who knows. Who cares.
Which flag is that?
Sure, the Australian flag is there as well. A few small Australian flags are visible -- dwarfed by the enormous BK flag.Who would know which country is represented by the Boxing Kangaroo?
Oh, yes, nearly everyone.
I would like to guess, that more people recognise the BK as "Australian" than would recognise our authentic national flag. It's like the national anthem... Anywhere in the world, "foreigners" would know -- and be able to hum -- the Australian song, Waltzing Matilda. How many "foreigners" would recognise Advance Australia Fair? Not many at all...
The BK is trivialised, commercialised, themed with violence. Great for sport, hardly the best image for a nation. On the other hand -- it is instantly recognisable as "Australian".
Perhaps it really is time to go for a new flag and a new anthem. Take off the gloves, put a pie in one hand and a thumbs-up, she'll-be-right gesture on the other. And bring back Waltzing Matilda as our official anthem.
I would like to see us all celebrate the joy, the good humour, the we're-happy-to-be-who-we-are attitude of being Australian.
Footnote 1: Disclaimer
I've never been happy with Advance Australia Fair as our national anthem. I honestly prefer Waltzing Matilda. I have heard Waltzing Matilda sung and hummed around the world, as soon as I have been identified as being Australian.On the other hand, I am a quiet but staunch supporter of the current Australian flag. As I wrote this post, the relationship between flags and anthems and being proudly Australian just became -- to me -- a lot clearer. There are plenty of flag attempts which I would reject out of hand. But, now I come to think about it, I would be very happy to accept Waltzing Matilda as the national anthem, and a similarly cheerful, uniquely Australian flag as our national flag.
Footnote 2: The real reason for this post
Okay, my mind has been wandering. The new-flag-and-anthem idea was distracting. I had to double-check several sources because I would have written "euthanased"... My apologies to Dan Silkstone; I was totally wrong... it is "euthanised".But this was the original point that I intended to make:
"An Australian flag should represent something other than the dumb, unconsidered violence of an animal trying to impress a female of the species..." Absolutely true! But what we have here, is a flag at the Olympic village. And that's what sport is all about: "the dumb, unconsidered violence of an animal trying to impress a female of the species."
Footnote 3: Just wondering
Dan... how did you manage to sex that kangaroo?!Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com |
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