Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated Aug 5, 2009
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Symbolic Wildlife in 2009
Recent events got me thinking about the wildlife symbols, or emblems adopted by many countries, so I decided to take a look behind the scenes and see why they were chosen.
Of course the first one, in light of the historic inauguration of the first African American President of the USA, has to be the Bald Eagle, also known as the White headed eagle. It seemed on the surface to be a good reflection of how America saw itself in its early days, as a symbol of freedom and strength..
Strangely though, there were some very prominent people of the time, in particular one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, Benjamin Franklin, who was very unhappy and outspoken about the choice, Franklin actually preferring a turkey! The wildlife artist and eminent conservationist
John James Audubon also disapproved of the choice. Clearly they did not win the argument.
They both held the opinion that the Bald Eagle was a bird of bad moral character, did not earn an honest living, was lazy and a coward, as it waited for other birds to catch prey and then stole it from them! Therefore it could not a suitable emblem for the good people of America! In spite of the disagreements the Bald Eagle was chosen in May 1782, but was not made the official emblem until 1787. The bird suffered a serious decline in numbers for many years, for a variety of reasons, but happily it was taken off the Endangered Species List in June 2007, and is now a protected species.
Controversy over the choice of a bird, animal or plant as a national emblem often dogs decisions and it seems that people can get very hot under the collar on the subject. Some of the symbols of countries known throughout the world are unofficial, and have developed through usage rather than being adopted as a legal emblem.
If asked, most people would say the emblem of South Africa was the beautiful, bouncy
springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis. It was adopted prior to the establishment of Apartheid, but is now seen by some as a sad symbol of that period. A movement developed to name the
protea , the national flower also known as the sugarbush, as the national emblem but this didn’t happen. The
argument surfaces again from time to time.
Australia has as its floral emblem the Golden wattle
Acacia pycnantha. This shrub or small tree grows in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It was first collected in 1836 in the New South Wales interior by Thomas Mitchell, who led two expeditions to the Darling and Murray river systems. The abundance of yellow fluffy flowers in Spring, coupled with a sweet scent, and its ability to regenerate after bush fires, makes it a unique emblem for Australia. However, world wide the creatures most associated with Australia are probably the kangaroo and the Koala.
The Golden wattle was eventually made the official floral emblem in 1988 after many years of controversy over whether it should be the waratah or wattle flowers. It was included on the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, used on stamps, and many awards in the Australian honours system. Since 1992 the 1st September has been observed as National Wattle Day, when Acacia trees are planted.
There are some 900 species of Acacia in Australia, and the name wattle used for Australian species derives from the British building method of
‘wattle and daub’. This method was first used in Australia, at Port Jackson, using species of Acacia. Wattles were long flexible hazel twigs (withes) interwoven and coated, or daubed, with a mixture of mud/horsehair/straw/clay and horse or cow dung, to make the walls of buildings. It is most frequently seen in Tudor black and white buildings in the UK.
The
Kiwi, a strange looking bird seen by most as the national emblem of New Zealand is the most ancient bird found there. It appeared on regimental badges as far back as 1886 and later on military badges. It became recognised world wide when Kiwi shoe polish was marketed by an Australian with a New Zealand born wife and gradually became accepted as the national symbol of New Zealand, and also the name given to the people.
Yet the ‘official’ emblem is the
silver fern , Cyathea dealbata, as seen on the Coat of Arms. The Kiwi came later, and never received either official recognition or legal protection. Its popularity came largely as a result of a huge
carving on the chalk hill at Sling Camp, Beacon Hill, near Bulford on the Salisbury Plain, England. It was carved by New Zealand troops stationed there during WWl as a means of occupying their time while awaiting repatriation. The carving is still there, and in 2007 underwent a clean up by volunteers and Army personnel.
Now, Canada has a beautiful emblem which is universally recognised,
the maple tree or rather the maple leaf. The name Canada was used officially for the first time in 1791, becoming a new country in its own right in 1867.
It is believed that the maple leaf was used as their symbol as far back as 1700 yet the red and white flag as we know it first flew in 1965. The maple tree was only recognised as the national emblem in 1996.
Maple syrup and sugar was made from the sap of the maple tree by the Aboriginal people. The sugar maple Acer saccharum and the black maple Acer nigrum are the most commonly tapped species. Along with red maple Acer rubrum these provide much of the sap used commercially at the present time. These impressive trees live for over two hundred years, with trunks more than thirty inches in diameter and growing in excess of 100 feet tall.
The
beaver Castor Canadensis also became an emblem of Canada in 1975, having been instrumental in the progress of Canada through the fur trade. It is interesting to note that this was the highest honour ever bestowed on a rodent! It was initially the beaver which drew explorers to Canada, with pelts selling at twenty times their original price. There were six million or so beavers at the beginning of commercial fur trading and as the fur traders explored further and further afield, the beaver came to the brink of extinction. Thankfully the fur trade faded in the early 19th century and conservation efforts mean the beaver is now flourishing. The UK is now bringing beavers back to our countryside and it will be interesting to see what effect its reappearance has on the landscape and wildlife.
While the official national emblem of Switzerland is the white cross on a red background, the
edelweiss Leontopodium alpinum is recognised as the unofficial emblem of Switzerland and is quite rare. There are about 41 different species, growing at altitudes between 2,000 and 3000 metres. Probably best known from the song in The Sound of Music it is creamy white, furry, and star shaped, looking as its name suggests, like a lion’s paw. Tough enough to withstand severe temperatures, it is a protected species in Switzerland and throughout the European Alps, as constant collecting soon depleted numbers.
A research project started at the beginning of 2008 is aimed at producing edelweiss that can be grown commercially in greenhouses. Local alpine species need less energy to grow than the more exotic varieties. The tests have been carried out on the Helvetia variety of edelweiss. Incidentally extracts of the Helvetia edelweiss are used in anti-wrinkle creams and sun care products, with a number of claims being made about its beneficial effects on the ageing human body! It has been valued throughout time as a medicine for men and beasts, to ward off evil, and as the ultimate ‘love charm’ of the Mountains, as collecting it involved some risk and proved a man was brave, fit and smitten!
England, of course, has the red rose as its national flower, and the
oak tree as the arboreal symbol. However, the Tudor Rose is a composite design, not a horticultural development, and a red rose is normally shown. The
Tudor Rose symbol is a combination of the red rose of Lancaster believed to be R. gallica officinialis and the white rose of York Alba Semiplena. It was created after the marriage between King Henry Vll (House of Lancaster) and Elizabeth of York (House of York) after the War of the Roses (1455-1485). King Henry Vll was the first Tudor king. The Tudor Rose emblem was found carved on one of the guns of the Mary Rose, the Tudor flagship sunk in 1545 and raised in 1982. The Tudor Rose emblem is also still seen on the uniforms of the Yeomen Warders at the Tower of London to this day.
Scotland has the prickly purple
thistle as its national symbol, dating from 1470. The story goes that in 1263 the Vikings came ashore, sneakily barefoot, in Scotland, and it was the cry of some of their number as they stepped on spiny thistles that alerted the Scots to their presence.
Wales has experienced some conflict over the choice of emblem, in that the daffodil, the national flower, is sometimes superseded by the Leek Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum. The leek is mentioned far back in Welsh history. They were believed to encourage good health and happiness and they were said to be worn by the Welsh in the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The idea that the Welsh were told to wear leeks on their hats to distinguish them from the enemy (AD 633) takes some believing! The
daffodil was adopted much more recently in the 19th century, though the wild daffodil in a few localities goes back to the last ice age. The leek has only been around since the time of the Romans. So which one? The daffodil finds more favour with women: I wonder why?!
Ireland has the
shamrock , a three leaved plant of the clover family, as an unofficial emblem. Shamrock is the English version of the Irish word seamrog which translates as ‘little clover’. The official emblem is the 12 stringed harp, but the green trefoil is registered under international trade-mark conventions as a symbol of Ireland. It also represents Northern Ireland alongside the rose, thistle and daffodil in the Royal arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Tradition has it that St. Patrick used the three leaves to show how the Trinity— the Father, Son and Holy Spirit— could all exist as separate parts of the same whole. This was recorded in 1726 in a book about wild flowers.
There is no one specific shamrock, and as many as four varieties of clovers or trefoils are worn on St. Patrick’s Day. The myth that shamrock will only grow in Ireland has been proven wrong as it will grow almost anywhere except in acid, wet soil. The four-leaf clover is said to be a lucky charm and appears when the plant mutates.
The shamrock was worn in the hat as far back as the late 1600s, not on the chest as now. In 1900 Queen Victoria decreed that all Irish soldiers serving in British Regiments should wear shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day in memory of those who died in the Boer War.
There is so much history and myth attached to emblems, whether official or unofficial, that it is obvious that the public’s affection for many indigenous wild plants and creatures can make recognition of an unofficial emblem just as symbolic as those decreed by law. It is good that there is at least one area where ‘people power’ reigns and wildlife is held sacred.
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