Crane Art 3

Signs, logos and stamps

The Brolga is embedded in Australian culture in many different forms, the most famous being indigenous art and formal sculptures in major public places like Darling Harbour, Sydney. This page presents more day to day uses in Australian logos, signs and stamps, plus the only logo so far to show a Sarus Crane.

Signs
Logos
Stamps

Background

Over 100 registered Australian business names include the word ‘Brolga’, representing very diverse occupations: some seem barely related to the actual bird. Counselling, modelling, building, farms, mines, transport, artists, music, publishing, hotels, landscaping, helicopters (and more!). The Brolga is the official state bird emblem of Queensland and appears in two Coats of Arms (see Sidebar). Spontaneous use of images in varied objects can reveal genuine community awareness, and in north west Queensland's Gulf of Carpentaria region the communities of Normanton and Karumba have clearly adopted the Brolga as part of everyday life.

In New South Wales, the Brolga Hotel in Coleambally was probably named after its location on Brolga Street, but growers in this major irrigation district are very aware of Brolgas (see Ozcranes Cranes on Farms 2»).

Signs

Entrance sign to Karumba, with Brolga sculpture; Billboard for ‘End of the Road’ Motel
(Sculpture detail is in Sidebar)

Sunset Tavern, Karumba Point

Brolga Garden Lounge at the famous Purple Pub, Normanton

(↑ Images courtesy K.S. Gopi Sundar)

Brolga Hotel, Coleambally NSW (image by Matt from Flickr, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence) ↓

Logos

Brolga logos are reasonably common, but apparently the only Sarus Crane logo in Australia is the emblem for Southern Gulf Catchments NRM in north west Queensland.

Sarus Crane Logo, Southern Gulf Catchments NRM; Brolga Logos for Northern Territory tourism and Tourism Awards; Brolga Theatre, Maryborough SE Queensland

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Stamps

Kakadu wetland bird series issued by Australia Post: (1) 1998 Trial Folder, 2 strips of 10 Brolga 45c stamps (2) 1997 Folder with Brolga (bottom left) and three other 45c wetland bird stamps (cranesnorth).