National colours of Australia

"Green and gold" redirects here. For the ornamental herb, see Green-and-gold.

The Kangaroos team jersey.

Australian marathon runners wearing green and gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games

The national colours of Australia are green and gold, as proclaimed by Sir Ninian Stephen, the Governor-General of Australia on 19 April 1984. The exact colours are specified as being Pantone Matching System numbers 116C and 348C, and always referred to as "green and gold".

Green and gold are the traditional team colours of Australian national sporting teams, and nearly every current Australian national sports team wears them, although the hues and proportions of the colours may vary between teams and across eras.

It is widely believed that the colours were chosen because they are the dominant colours of Australia's floral emblem, Acacia pycnantha (the Golden Wattle).

Uses

Teams that wear the green and gold include:

• the Australia cricket team (one day cricket);
• the Kangaroos (rugby league);
• the Socceroos (men's association football (soccer));
• the Matildas (women's association football (soccer));
• the Wallabies (rugby union);
• the Australian Summer Olympics team;
• the Boomers (men's basketball);
• the Opals (women's basketball);
• the Kookaburras (men's field hockey);
• the Hockeyroos (women's field hockey);
• the Mighty Roos (ice hockey)

Since 1961, the Wallabies have worn a gold jersey with green lettering and trim; they changed from a primarily green jersey in order to avoid a colour clash with the Springboks of South Africa.

History

The first Australian national sporting team to wear green and gold was the Australian cricket team that toured England in 1899. Their clothes were the traditional white, but the captain Joe Darling arranged for green and gold caps and blazers to be worn for the opening match of the Ashes series. Previously, the team had had no uniform cap or blazer colours but wore an assortment of club or state colours^[1]. The Australian cricket team continued to use the colours thereafter, and in 1908 the colours were ratified as the official team colours for future Australian cricket teams. During subsequent discussions by members of the New South Wales Cricket Association, the colours were reportedly referred to as "gum-tree green" and "wattle-gold".

The Australasian Olympic team adopted "green and wattle" in 1908, but not every team played in the colours. In the 1912 Olympics, an official Australian uniform was adopted for the first time: green vests with gold trimming, and white shorts with green and gold trimming. The Australian national rugby league team first wore green and gold in 1928,^[2] with other teams following.

See also

• Coat of arms of Australia

References

• Sharpham, Peter (1994) The Origin of the Green and Gold, Sporting Traditions, 1994.
• Australia's National Colours
• Australian National Colours: green and gold

Notes

1. ^ The Weekend Australian, 30-31 December 2000, p. 17
2. ^ Fagan, Sean. "To Wattle Gold and Gum Green Jerseys". RL1908.com. http://rl1908.com/Kangaroos/arl-colours.htm. Retrieved 7 April 2011.