Koala emblems and popular culture

"Koalo" 1810 print

Koala emblems and popular culture deals with the uses which have been made of the image of the Koala such as coins, emblems, logos, mascots and in the naming of sports teams.

Emblems and logos

• The Koala is the official fauna symbol of Queensland, Australia.
• The Koala is the official fauna symbol for the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.
• The Koala is the official mascot of Columbia College, a women-only college in Columbia, South Carolina.

In sports

• Rugby union team Queensland Reds has the Koala as its logo.
• The Fighting Koalas Triathlon Team established in 2008 is one of the fastest growing triathlon teams in Canada. Clubs can be found in Ontario and Alberta Canada and California USA.
• In the United States, a talking Koala in a racing firesuit is paired with Tasmanian race car driver Marcos Ambrose in commercials for Little Debbie snack cakes. The commercials take place in front of or in the #21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion from Wood Brothers Racing.

In popular culture

• Qantas airlines used a Koala who continually complains about the airline's reliability in a series of television commercials.
• An Australian children's show has animated characters headed by The Koala Brothers.
• Blinky Bill is the koala star of several books, TV shows, a movie and games.
• Adventures of the Little Koala and Noozles are two anime that were shown on Nickelodeon in the late 1980s. Viewers often confuse the two.
• Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge is a PC game with a koala as the main character.
• Caramello Koalas are a popular Australian chocolate.
• Kid Koala is the stage name of the Canadian DJ Eric San.
• The Koala is a student newspaper at the University of California, San Diego.
• In Terry Pratchett's book The Last Continent, there is a description of a koala-like animal referred to as the "drop-bear."
• "Koala Infestation" is one of the more popular bits performed by comedian Mitch Hedberg.
• During the Vietnam War, conscripted Australian soldiers were derisively called "Koala soldiers" by regular army personnel. The rationale behind this name was that they were 'not to be exported or shot at.' It is now commonplace within the civilian population to use this nickname to refer to any deployment of troops with restricted rules of engagement.
• Release 9.10 of the Ubuntu operating system (codenamed Karmic Koala), a distribution of Linux.