YiXiu Tan
The Power of the Kangaroo - Qantas

For many years, kangaroos have been used as the symbols for countless Australian products and services. In particular, the flying kangaroo symbol by our Australian airline Qantas, first began in 1944. As the years fly by, Qantas has changed its symbol several times, but one thing has always remained; a kangaroo.

The 1944 flying kangaroo symbol was introduced on Qantas aeroplanes travelling between Australia and the UK to give Australia an ‘outback’ and unique icon to be represented by in order to show the difference between the UK and Australia. As kangaroos are one of the most well-known Australian native animals, this unique, iconic creature brings the thought of ‘Australia’ to mind when its image is shown. ‘Kangaroo service’ supports the iconic idea and suggests an ‘outback’ idea as kangaroos are found in the outback, another typical Aussie-related theme. As the 1944 flying kangaroo symbol provokes the thought of ‘Australia’ to mind and not the UK, the symbol was used on aeroplanes travelling between the two countries.

This Qantas kangaroo was adapted from the Australian one penny coin in use at that time. It was used from an already familiar design to support the Australian image of it. As Australians during that time were already familiar with the kangaroo image on the penny, the Qantas symbol wouldn’t take much time to be familiar with in terms of showing that it is Australian. Since Australians were already familiar with the one penny coin, Qantas used an already familiar symbol to enhance the Australian image, bringing ‘Australia’ straight to mind.

The Qantas symbol was altered to look like this in 1947 to show that the kangaroo can ‘fly’ around the world with its relation to Australia and the UK. The added wings on its back give the impression of being able to fly. The image of the globe symbolizes that it travels around the world and as you can see, Australia and the UK have been shaded in, showing a link between the two countries. Perhaps Australians wanted to show that their people