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Symbols and Icons

For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians used animal totems as symbols to link them with the ancestral beings of the Dreaming. The newly arrived European settlers looked to Australia's unique plants and animals to capture the bright possibilities of their new world.

And it was from this natural environment, from the stars shining in the southern sky to the distinctively Australian plants and animals, that the symbols of the nation were drawn.

The story of Australia's national symbols and some of the more well known cultural icons are available in this section of the site.

• Australia's National Symbols
• Australian Icons