Why does Australia....

[Thunderstruk]

use green and gold as colors for the country's teams? I was at the Chicago Bandits versus Team Australia women's fastpitch softball game yesterday and couldn't give my girl an answer.

[Discrim]

I'm trying to find out. You'll get an answer sooner or later-one of our resident Aussies should know.

...and regarding the source of your question, if only Jennie Finch was single...

[GeorgesL]

Oh yeah, Jennie Finch is a looker.

I'd do her.

[Brian in Boston]

Green and Gold were proclaimed to be Australia's national colors by the Governor-General in April of 1984. Before the proclamation was delivered, Australia had no "official" colors. That said, three color combinations had traditionally been claimed to be Australia's national colors: Red, White and Blue... Blue and Gold... and Green and Gold.

* Red, White and Blue were featured in the first Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1908. They are also the colors of the Australian flag.

* Blue and Gold are the colors of the crest in the Commonwealth Coat of Arms that was adopted in 1912.

* Green and Gold have popularly been accepted as the traditional colors in Australian and international sporting events since 1899. The Australian cricket team that toured England in that year adopted colors of "Gum" (Green) and "Wattle" (Gold). The team wore blazers, caps and jumpers featuring the colors. The Australian Rugby League Board of Control made a switch to Green and Gold jerseys for international test matches in time for a 1928 visit by the English Lions.

[Perfect Zero]

Thanks for the info, my Australian friend!

[Thunderstruk]

Thank you very much for that answer!!!

Yeah there were quite a few good looking young ladies!!! Jennie is a definite tall cool one. The one thing that amazed my girl were all the girls who resembled men. Quite the lesbian turnout.

[Pat]

I think its sort of like how Italy is always Blue and the Netherlands is always Orange, just their national colours.

[rmered]

Quite a few countries have colours that aren't their flag colours.

For starters:

India wear light blue in sports, their flag is orange, green and white.

New Zealand wear black or white, their flag is red, white and blue.

Northern Ireland wear green and white, their flag is white and red.

Italy and Holland as mentioned above

As far as the Aussies, we've worn green and gold in various forms in every sporting event that I can remember.

Over time (and with fashion) it has varied from jade green to olive and highlighter pen yellow to almost orange.

But technically, always green and gold.

It's our sporting colours.

[Alphabet Man]

and the late 90's saw sports trying to add navy to our colour mix......Basketball tried it, and a few other sports and the AFL use a mainly Navy jersey for the representative team that plays Ireland at International Rules in October

[Brian in Boston]

Thanks for the info, my Australian friend!

Actually, I'm not Australian... although I've visited the country.

[DEAD!]

Thanks for the info, my Australian friend!

Actually, I'm not Australian... although I've visited the country.

Sure you not .... Brian in Brisbane

[Kit]

The Australian Test Rugby League team has worn the green and gold 'V' design for almost 100 years.

http://www.rl1908.com/

[plattopus]

I read or heard somewhere that the green and gold originates from the wattle plant. It's not a definitive source obviously, but that's just what I heard.

Someone should really research the subject.

(And by the same token, why did the Netherlands choose orange as their national colour?)

[Alphabet Man]

Thanks for the info, my Australian friend!

Actually, I'm not Australian... although I've visited the country.

Sure you not .... Brian in Brisbane

yer Boston came out by mistake

[mrdj13]

Thanks for the answer and I'm glad I know now too.......but I still think its screwed up. Most teams colors match their flags. I think they should. We have stars and stripes all over our uniform, UK always has a union jack or something......I just dont like what austrailia does.

[plattopus]

As an Aussie I love it. It gives us a distinct character... red white and blue is so overused.

[Primal]

Thanks for the answer and I'm glad I know now too.......but I still think its screwed up. Most teams colors match their flags. I think they should. We have stars and stripes all over our uniform, UK always has a union jack or something......I just dont like what austrailia does.

Actually the UK is exactly why we have a different colour - the push for other colours came from the fact that one of our earliest sporting rivals was England, which wore red, white and blue. We wanted something uniquely Australian, so we adopted the colours of the wattle. New Zealand, one step behind as always, also wanted something unique, and so latched on to black.

[IceCap]

(And by the same token, why did the Netherlands choose orange as their national colour?)

because the royal family of the netherlands dates back to the country's founder, william of orange.

Thanks for the answer and I'm glad I know now too.......but I still think its screwed up. Most teams colors match their flags. I think they should. We have stars and stripes all over our uniform, UK always has a union jack or something......I just dont like what austrailia does.

as far as australia and new zealand goes, the national flags should change, not teh sporting colours. first off, australia and nz have very simular flags. also they are the only independent countries left to still have the union jack on thier flag. australia should adopt a new flag that is primaraly green and gold, and nz should adopt a primaraly black and white flag.

[rmered]

(And by the same token, why did the Netherlands choose orange as their national colour?)

because the royal family of the netherlands dates back to the country's founder, william of orange.

Thanks for the answer and I'm glad I know now too.......but I still think its screwed up. Most teams colors match their flags. I think they should. We have stars and stripes all over our uniform, UK always has a union jack or something......I just dont like what austrailia does.

as far as australia and new zealand goes, the national flags should change, not teh sporting colours. first off, australia and nz have very simular flags. also they are the only independent countries left to still have the union jack on thier flag. australia should adopt a new flag that is primaraly green and gold, and nz should adopt a primaraly black and white flag.

Except for Fiji, Tuvalu & Bermuda you mean.

I'm quite happy with our flag, and quite happy with our sporting colours.

Why should the two be the same?

Canada's flag doesn't contain any black, yet that seems to be an unofficial third colour of their sporting teams.

[Gothamite]

The Australian flag is a subject of much controversy down there. There are many people who want Australia to stake out its own identity, and there are also many who want to keep the ties with Great Britain. The debate gets pretty heated, as all questions of identity do.

One of the strongest cases for changing Australia's flag, to my mind, is the fact that it is constantly confused with New Zealand's (hint - Australia's stars are white, NZ's are red with white border).

One of the "new flag" groups got a lot of mileage out of a press release sent out by the Australian Monarchist League (which is obviously very much against changing the flag) mistaking the NZ flag for their own.