Trove Tuesday- The History Of Wattle Day

Reposted from our blog – 3 September, 2013

The first known use of wattle as a meaningful emblem in the Australian colonies dates back to the early days of Tasmania 1838), when the wearing of silver wattle sprigs was encouraged on the occasion of an anniversary celebration of the seventeenth century European discovery of the island.

It was resolved that a National emblem be adonted to be worn by the company upon the occasion of the anniversary, to consist of a sprig of silver wattle blossom “tied with the British colour – Navy blue.”
The Courier (Hobart, Tasmania
Friday 25 November, 1842, page 2, 3

To read the detailed and interesting article click here.

Of course the original inhabitants of Australia had many uses for the wattle plant; the boomerang, for example, has created its own widespread meaning in the word itself and in its shape.

Near the end of the nineteenth century, naturalistic imagery of Australian flora and fauna began to appear on utilitarian objects such as furniture. This was a reflection of intensifying nationalism as the colonies considered their progress towards Federation. In October 1889, a short-lived ‘Wattle Blossom League‘ had a preliminary meeting in Adelaide. The chief proposer was a Sir William Sowden, Vice-President of the Adelaide branch of the Australian Natives Association.

That the objects of the League shall be :—
1, To promote a national patriotic sentiment amongst the women of Australia,
2. To interest women in the work of the Australian Natives’ Association.
3, To encourage in the household among the rising generation a spirit of Australian patriotism.

South Australian Register Adelaide, SA
Tuesday 13 May 1890,

To see the full article (fascinating for its insights into society at that time – particularly in relation to the role of women and the family) please click here.

The League got as far as having a Wattle Blossom Social in the Adelaide Town Hall (March 1890). It also designed its own flag in January 1881. Later that year, however, some prominent members of the League withdrew and it dissolved.

After much discussion, the Wattle Blossom League was formed, chiefly through the efforts of the then President of the Adelaide branch (Sir William Sowden), with whom the ideaoriginated. In March. 1890, the first really important Wattle Blossom social was held in the Adelaide Town Hall. Tlie builders designed better than they could, have been aware, or they were gifted with prescience; for their foundation eventually carried a noble structure during the war.

The Register, Adelaide, South Australia
Saturday 4 September 1920

To see the full article click here.

The SA League’s activities had not escaped notice in Melbourne. In February 1891 there was an article on national symbols in The Melbourne Herald which in part was responding to Canada’s choice of the maple leaf as national emblem. A proposal that wattle should become the Australian emblem was printed.

The next significant event was the formation in 1899 of a ‘Wattle Club’ in Victoria by Mr A. J. Campbell, a field naturalist. For several years the club organised bush outings on the first day in September. The first suggestionof a Wattle Day was made by Mr Campbell during a speech in September 1908.

Meanwhile, Sydney was not to be left behind. The then Government Botanist (J. H. Maiden), a specialist in wattles (Acacias), became most interested in the movement in favour of a Wattle Day. An August 1909 public meeting held to form a Wattle Day League accepted a motion of his advocating the

setting apart throughout the Commonwealth a day on which
the Australian national flower – the Wattle Blossom – might
be worn, and its display encouraged.

The meeting also agreed to encourage the coordination of all States in this endeavour.

For some time, especially in NSW, there had been a debate as to whether Wattle or the Waratah should be Australia’s national floral emblem. By around 1910, consensus finally favoured Wattle since it grows throughout the nation whereas the Waratah is limited in distribution.

By July 1910 a branch of the Wattle Day League was started in South Australia, with Will Sowden as its Vice-President. Another branch was commenced in Melbourne by A. J. Campbell in September of that year. The first ‘national’ Wattle Day was celebrated in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on the First of September 1910.The Adelaide branch is described as particularly active, and was notable for promoting wattle as an emblem on other occasions besides Wattle Day. Early Wattle Day activities included planting of wattle trees in school grounds, school lessons on botany, street decorations of wattle blossom, and wearing sprigs of wattle, often sold for charity.

Wider acceptance of a national Wattle Day was achieved at a major Australian Wattle Day League Conference in Melbourne in January 1913. Branches were formed in a number of States, with the general aim of officially proclaiming wattle as the national floral emblem and extending Wattle Day celebrations throughout the nation. About this time, wattle was officially introduced to representations of the Commonwealth coat-of-arms. And in December of the same year, the first wattle blossom stamp was issued.

Even as public support for Wattle Day reached a peak, World War I broke out. Wattle took on a new significance in the war years as a potent symbol of home for military personnel serving overseas, and as a means of raising money for organisations such as the Red Cross. Beautifully designed Wattle Day badges as well as wattlesprigs were sold.

In 1916 the date of Wattle Day was changed in New South Wales to the first of August. This was done becausewattle blooms profusely about that time in the surrounds of Sydney. However, the change led to some confusion which persists to this day; note that the nationally agreed date of Wattle Day has been the First of September throughout Australia since 1992.

This amazingly patriotic poem from 1925 illustrates the popularity of wattle as a symbol of Australia patriotism in the early 1900s. To read the complete article click here.

Wattle, wattle, golden wattle,
How I love thce, none can tell.
When Australians chose their emblem
Wattle, dear, they chose thee well.
Sweet reflector of the sunshine,
Where, though all the world I roam.
Gan I find a thing bo truly
Represent its native home.
Hold the colour of its sunshine
And the giory of its dawn,
Is not thine a land of honey.
Golden fleece, and waving corn?
Oh, how can I ever leave thee,
And the land that gave thee birth?
Wattle, thou and great Australia
,Are the dearest things on earth.
By Dorothy Langsford

The Register, Adelaide, SA
Wednesday 30 September 1925, page 15

Wattle Day continued to be celebrated during the 1920s and 1930s, although apparently not in Western Australia or the Northern Territory. The Day became largely associated with schools and treeplanting, the aftermath of the War perhaps softening some of the patriotic fervour characteristic of the early days of Federation.

For some reason, World War II is not recorded as having greatly revived the tradition of Wattle Day; wattle does not seem to have been widely used as a symbol of Australia in that time of national crisis. At any rate, following the war, Wattle Day was allowed to slowly die as a tradition. It was not until the 1980s that national pride and symbolism re-emerged (for example, the boxing kangaroo).

September 1981, historian Manning Clark wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald:

I love the spring. It means the wattle comes out again. It is a symbol of everything one loves about Australia and the ideal of the uniqueness of Australia. To me every spring holds out the hope that it won’t be long before Australia is completely independent [but I also] share Henry Lawson’s view that blood should never stain the wattle

A significant milestone was the proclamation in April 1984 of the wattle’s green (leaves) and gold (blossom) as the national colours. This settled a long dispute as to whether the colours should be green or blue together with gold. While Green and Gold is widely used by Australian sporting teams, it is considered by many that the national colours deserve even wider use and recognition.

The unfinished business of 1913, that is, proclamation of Wattle as the national floral emblem, was completed during the Bicentennial Year, on the First of September 1988. Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, was the actual species chosen. Continuing confusion over the actual date of Wattle Day required a long-awaited agreement among the Commonwealth and States to unify Australia’s Wattle Day as the First Day of Spring (1st September) in every State and Territory. This took place in 1992 at the urging of Maria Hitchcock and supporters.

With the Centenary of Federation in 2001 Australians once again experienced strong feelings of nationhood. A new Wattle Day oriented towards the future, encompassing positive virtues in the celebration of Australia and the Australian spirit is being promoted.

While appreciating the history of the Day, we can adapt its rich symbolism to the great issues Australia faces as a nation still seeking to find its place in the world and as a community-minded people within a global economy.