Gum trees or eucalyptus are synonymous with Australia. Our gum tree image is taken from a personal photograph of a very famous gum tree in South Australia. Originally photographed in 1937 by Harold Cazneaux, in an iconic image he named ‘Spirit of Endurance’, the tree remains standing today, and is affectionately known as ‘The Cazneaux Tree’.
Aboriginal art and cave paintings often feature images of lizards or goanna, which were a major food source for Aboriginal people. Goanna and lizards also feature in Aboriginal stories and folklore.
The kangaroo is a particularly important symbol in Aboriginal art. Kangaroos were widely used by the Aboriginal people for their meat and hide, and also feature heavily in ‘Dreamtime’ stories of creation and Aboriginal folklore. The Aboriginal kangaroo design, which shows the bones and tendons (almost like an x-ray) reveals the significance of these parts to the Aboriginal people, who used almost every part of the animal in some way.
