Coat of arms of the Commonwealth

The national arms combine a kangaroo and kiwi, the Federation Star, thirteen state badges and sixteen territorial badges in ocean blue, plant green and prosperity gold. Simplified outlines and a restrained native border make the emblem clearer at small sizes.

Clean national arms with kangaroo left, kiwi right, Federation Star and twenty-nine jurisdiction badges. — National arms: kangaroo and kiwi, thirteen state fields, sixteen territorial fields and Duty, Honour, Respect. Download PNG

Composition

The kangaroo stands on the viewer’s left and a kiwi on the right. The kiwi has a rounded body, short legs and a long slender beak. A gold seven-point Federation Star crowns the shield on a blue-and-gold wreath. Its points preserve the federation tradition rather than counting the present states. The composition uses clear heraldic outlines, simpler individual badges and a restrained native border.

Shield and colours

Thirteen state fields occupy two upper rows of seven and six. Sixteen territorial fields occupy four lower rows of four, giving twenty-nine jurisdictional fields. North and South Queensland have separate badges after the 1995 division. Blue represents the ocean, green native plant life and gold prosperity. The scroll reads Duty, Honour and Respect.

Badge register

Shield field	Jurisdiction	Local badge	Native supporting symbol
1	New South Wales	Waratah and star	Waratah
2	Victoria	Southern Cross and heath	Common heath
3	North Queensland	Orchid and sun	Cooktown orchid
4	South Queensland	Brush-box blossom and wave	Brush box
5	Western Australia	Black swan and sea	Kangaroo paw
6	South Australia	Piping shrike	Sturt’s desert pea
7	Tasmania	Lion and blue gum	Tasmanian blue gum
8	North Island	Kōwhai and wave	Kōwhai
9	South Island	Alpine peak and rātā	Southern rātā
10	Papua New Guinea	Bird of paradise	Raggiana bird of paradise
11	West Papua	Crowned pigeon	Western crowned pigeon
12	Fiji	Palm and ocean	Tagimoucia
13	Singapore	Lion head and orchid	Mangrove
14	Australian Capital Territory	Crossed mace/sword and star	Royal bluebell
15	Northern Territory	Desert rose	Sturt’s desert rose
16	Jervis Bay Territory	Anchor and wave	White-bellied sea eagle
17	East Timor	Sandalwood	Sandalwood
18	Bougainville	Hornbill	Blyth’s hornbill
19	Solomon Islands	Eagle and wave	Solomon sea eagle
20	Nauru	Pandanus and star	Nauru reed warbler
21	Vanuatu	Boar tusk and fern	Vanuatu imperial pigeon
22	Federal Pacific District	Island chain and ocean star	Chatham Island forget-me-not
23	Christmas Island	Frigatebird	Golden bosun bird
24	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Palm	Red-footed booby
25	Norfolk Island	Norfolk pine	Norfolk Island pine
26	Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Reef and tern	Brown booby
27	Coral Sea Islands	Coral and tern	Red-footed booby
28	Heard and McDonald Islands	Penguin and volcanic peak	King penguin
29	Australian Antarctic Territory	Snowflake and penguin	Emperor penguin

Native border

Compact native sprigs and regional wildlife motifs represent the constituent regions without overwhelming the shield. The register identifies the local native association even where the shield uses a different heraldic device. The cleaner border retains blue, green and gold as the principal colours.

Jurisdiction and use

Lord Howe and Macquarie are represented through New South Wales and Tasmania. The Antarctic field acknowledges the administered claim, without asserting universal recognition. Government seals, passports, parliamentary publications and service institutions use the arms according to national rules. The national flag remains the blue field with the white Southern Cross tilted slightly clockwise.