The Boxing Kangaroo Flies Proudly: No Thanks To the IOC

The Boxing Kangaroo flag has flown over every major Australian sporting achievement since those heady days in 1983 when we wrested the Auld Mug from the hands of Dennis Conner and a disbelieving New York Yacht Club.

It has become the predominant symbol of Australian sport, surpassing even the national flag. It is instantly recognisable, revered and an integral part of our sporting psyche. Suffice to say, it’s bloody important.

This, however, means little to the small-minded bureaucrats at the IOC. In what can only be described as a moment of monumental pettiness, they issued the Australian Olympic Committee an ultimatum to have it removed because it was “too commercial” and was a registered trademark.

On the surface, it seemed like a fair call; legitimate sponsors of the Olympic Games need protection against ambush marketing. The Boxing Kangaroo, however, is a trademark registered to the Australian Olympic Committee, a non-profit organisation and member organisation of the IOC. It’s not immediately obvious which of the sponsors would have been disadvantaged.

Fortunately, the wise heads of Jacques Rogge and John Coates—IOC and AOC Presidents, respectively—were able to sit down and sort it all out over a Nanaimo bar, much to the relief of Aussies around the globe.

As precious as we get about the sacred Aussie symbol, it does require us to turn a blind eye to one or two inconvenient truths about the flag. Mainly, we have to overlook the fact that the flag was brought to prominence by a fraudster to rival Bernard Madoff at his very best (worst?) and possibly the world’s worst businessman, Alan Bond.

Given our history though, and our inexplicable penchant for hero-worshipping criminals, it’s perhaps not surprising that the Boxing Kangaroo means so much to us. Ironically, our best medal hope, Dale Begg-Smith, also has a dodgy past as a computer malware pusher. If he takes to the mogul slopes in a helmet fashioned out of a rubbish bin, the image will be complete.

Even more strangely, Begg-Smith will have a home town advantage when he competes at this year’s games, being a Vancouver native and only recently adopted Aussie. When it comes to success in Winter sports, we’re really not that fussy.

Still, we’ll sleep well knowing that our Boxing Kangaroo will fly proudly over our athletes as they compete in Vancouver. If it manages to snow, that is.