EMBLEMS
Coat of Arms
Shield contains a silver field with a rippled blue and silver base. A black swan sits upon the symbolized water. A Royal crown sits above the shield and red and green kangaroo paws (Anigozanthos manglesii) frame the crown.
Two red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) clutching unadorned boomerangs support the shield.
A Royal warrant for this design was granted on March 17 1969.
State Flag 1953- Current
In use since 1870 the flag was revised in 1953 so that the swan faced the flag pole.
The State flag 1870-1953
If you ignore the change of direction of the swan, the W.A. state flag is the oldest of all state flags in Australia.
Bird emblem
Black Swan used as a faunal emblem since 1973
Animal emblem
Numbat or Banded ant eater (Myrmecbius fasciatus.) Adopted October 2nd 1973.
Floral emblem
Red and green kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) used since 1960.
Fossil emblem
Gogo fish used since 1995 Mcnamaraspis kaprios
The Gogo formation is part of the remains of a giant coral reef system that exists in the Fitzroy Crossing region of W.A. The sediments laid down for these formations are about 375 million years old and contain many well preserved fossils of fishes. These are some of the best preserved early fish fossils in the world.
The Gogo fish is a placoderms and would have been around 250mm long with a shark like body. The fossils found indicate that the fish had a well developed sense of smell and this combined with it's sharp teeth indicate that it was a predatory fish.
The Gogo fish was fist discovered in 1986 by palaeontologist Dr John Long. It was not until 1995 that it was fully identified and described.
the name Mcnamaraspis translates to McNamara's Shield and was given in honour of the work done on fossil research by Dr Ken McNamara. Kaprios translates as 'boar like' and refers to the boar like tusks on the fish's lower jaw.
The Gogo formation takes its name from the Gogo Station in the Kimberley.
State Badge
This badge features a black swan on a yellow background and was adopted in 1829.
State Colours
The official state colours are gold and black. |
