Australians took kangaroos as mascots to World War I to boost morale and show off some of our natural heritage.

One of the earliest kangaroos painted on Military hardware was white kangaroo on the nose of an aircraft in the French Foreign Legion flown by Oswald Watt during 1915. Watt was a wealthy Australian businessman and part time militia officer prior to WW1.

Watt then posted to start the Australian Flying Corps in England The aircraft then started getting new colours and markings with boomerangs, emus and kangaroos appearing. 6 Sqn was the main user of the kangaroo marking, which was a standing white kangaroo on a red stripe.

Cant find any images until 1942 were Aust planes looked to much like British planes so 21 Sqn RAAF decided to paint boxing kangaroos on their planes.

WWII ~ Northern Africa, Australian troops captured Italian tanks and painted large white kangaroos on them to ensure they were not fired upon by friendly troops while Aussies were using them against the enemy.

WW2 ~ 456 Squadron created a design and used it on their Mosquito fighter-bombers and other squadron equipment. They created templates using the kangaroo design based on the 1937 penny.

In 1956 the RAAF had vote to decide what kangaroo they would go with, the upright like the original or the in motion roo. The RAAF commenced applying the new roundel on the fuselages only. (9 years later the new roundel would be applied to the wings as well).

Interestingly, The design was to have the kangaroo always facing forwards and, if on the wings, its feet pointing inwards denoting that it was always advancing towards battle

1970s the ships of AUSDESRONs 1 and 2 affixed a red kangaroo to their funnels emblazoned with their respective squadron number. However, they say there were numerous ships to use kangaroos as a Aussie designator before 1970.

Vietnam seen the nations new kangaroo insignia used in all three services with Army Aviation setting the standard with low vis insignia

The 1st Australian Task Force in Vietnam used a Red Kangaroo on a yellow shield as its symbol.

Infantry ~ The new ‘Skippy’ Regimental Badge was reproduced on Christmas cards in 1949 but was not issued as a hat badge until early 1954 when the new badges, replacing the AIF Badge, were issued to 2 RAR in Korea. The Regimental Badge has been worn ever since. Design from 1RAR

The 12th Light Horse Regiment was a mounted unit of the Australian Army. It was raised in New South (AIF) for service during the First World War. They had a Kangaroo on their hat badge too

The 4th Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) serving in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was initially formed as a part-time militia formation in the early 1900s in Victoria and Tasmania.

Although The Red Kangaroo is the technically correct symbol for Australian Armoured Vehicle’s the ‘low vis black’ or TAC Roo is becoming more and more popular.

The Red Kangaroo on the M1A1 was made famous during the discovery channel documentaries

After finding out the hard way in Vietnam that the red kangaroos are great aiming points for the enemy, the Australian Army AVN still use the tactical ‘low vis’ kangaroos

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