Flagpole with Bondi pennant for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
Datec 2000
Object number00036078
NameCostume accessory
MediumMetal, cloth
DimensionsOverall: 3000 x 3000 mm, 1.86 kg
ClassificationsCeremonial artefact
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the NSW Government, part of the Sydney 2000 Games Collection
DescriptionThis costume accessory is a flagpole with a Bondi pennant designed for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. It has been fabricated from a long metal flag pole and a cloth pennant attached at top. The pennant is yellow and features lightning bolts, stitched in red thread and text reading "Bondi".HistoryThe Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games were events of great significance for the people of Sydney, New South Wales and Australia. In addition to the huge scale of these events and the outstanding achievements of the athletes, they led to the creation of a substantial number of objects which also provide a lasting legacy of the staging of the Games and contemporary statements on the development of Australian culture. Many of these objects were associated with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic Games, in particular, and immediately achieved icon status through their use in those events which were broadcast across the world. They also demonstrated the spirit, humour and inventiveness of Australians and provided powerful images of our society to which Australians and others readily related.
The extent and quality of many of these objects also parallels the preparations, development of skills, commitment and sustained effort of the athletes who were the major stars of the Games.SignificanceThis Bondi flag has a significance with its association of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics where Australia had the opportunity to explain their culture both to themselves and to a world audience. Bondi is representative of the popularity of beach going in Australia and the character that has been built up around that, in particular its surfers and lifesavers.
