Australia.
The supporters of the shield
are native Australian animals: the red kangaroo and the emu. Usually the coat of arms is
depicted on the background of sprays of golden wattle with a scroll beneath it containing the
word `Australia'.
Australia's national anthem is `Advance Australia Fair', which replaced `God Save the
Queen' in 1984. It was written by a Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick. The
unofficial anthem of Australia is `Waltzing Matilda'. It tells a story about a swagman, who
has named his sleeping blanket Matilda. He is chased by police for stealing a sheep which he
wanted to eat. The swagman doesn't want to be punished, so he jumps into a billabong and
drowns.
The golden wattle was proclaimed the official national floral emblem in 1988. It is a
spreading shrub or a small tree, which grows in the under storey of open forest, woodland and
open scrub in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital
Territory.
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