Nutty Olympic Committee bans Australian sporting flag at Vancouver winter games
Is this flag "commercial"? If so, what is it selling?
"Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard slammed the International Olympic Committee's protest over the Aussies' giant green and gold flag, which has been draped over a balcony in the athletes' village.
The Olympic movement's ruling body has complained that the flag, which bears the image of the iconic Boxing Kangaroo, should be removed from the Vancouver athlete's village because it is "too commercial". Australian officials in Vancouver have vowed to ignore the order.
In what could be the first sign of a backdown, it is understood the IOC now plans to have one of its marketing expert view the flag. The Herald Sun has learned that IOC officials ordered its removal just 24 hours after it was unfurled.
The IOC complained it was "too commercial", a source said. "It's the first thing you see when you walk in the gate. "The village is already covered in national flags. "Someone from the IOC is objecting because it's our team mascot.
"They've said that it's too commercial because it's a registered trademark." The popular Aussie icon is a registered brand because it is used by Olympics officials in Australia to promote sport and fair play in schools.
Source
Update: The IOC has backed down and has now okayed the flag
15 comments:
And the Olympic logo itself is trademarked too.
Of course, it's about commercialism and money. Isn't everything?
Yes, and no Olympic Athlete has ever competed for anything other than the Glory of the Games, and the IOC doesn't accept the billions thrown at it by corporate news agencies for broadcast rights because that would be too commercial. I see their longstanding tradition of eschewing all things commercial and only being concerned with PURE sport!
Hey John,
Where can I get me one o' those boxing kangaroos? Are they really expensive?
LOL
Perhaps the socilaist IOC sees the flag as promoting violence? I'm sure changing the flag to show two males or two females kissing would get the IOC's full approval.
How would you even know if two kissing gangas printed on a flag are both male ones or both female? Are their genitals made obvious (if marsupial genitals are at all obvious!).
It seems like every olympic event in recent history has had some sort of mascot reflecting the host country. What could be more appropriate that the kankaroo for Australia?
Anonymous said...
"How would you even know if two kissing gangas printed on a flag are both male ones or both female?"
I was refering to human males or females.
The Kangaroo's name is Jack. He came to life in 1891 and has been growin ever since. His first claim to fame was on the Australian fighting planes in 1941 with the numer 21 squadron with the RAAF.
Later he was used in the Americas Cup Challenge in 1983 with a successful win. Then in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He is a national symbol that all Australians take with them to major sporting events. He stands for "the fight to win and the honour of the game"
Funnily enough, even though he was taken down from the balcony of the Olympic villiage, communities around Canada have now flown the Aussie flag in support of the Aussies. As our flag is being questioned and possibly redesigned, Jack has taken prominence and is now our national symbol.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww69/iron_outlaw/winterolympicsaustralia.jpg
I am curious - do any other countries have 'fight' flags and, if so, what?
I bet if there was a flag glorifying Islam they'd be fine with it.
"I am curious - do any other countries have 'fight' flags and, if so, what?"
It's not a fight flag per se but we Finns like to use the lion from our country's coat of arms as a national symbol. The Finnish flag is not that often used in t-shirts etc. as we don't want to desecrate it by getting it dirty or acting like drunk idiots dressed in it.
The Finnish lion is different from most other lions as it is armed. It carries a western broad sword in its hand (not a paw) and is standing on a scimitar that symbolizes east. The heraldic reasons might be something else but the usual explanation is that it has defeated the east (=Russia) and is now looking towards west for allies. Some images:
http://images.google.fi/images?q=suomen+leijona&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=zpBxS9GgCIXm-QbWhunWCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDUQsAQwAw
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