Today is the first day of spring as well as ‘wattle day’. The first wattle day was held on September 1, 1910, in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Over the next few years, there was a push to extend celebrations across the country. In 1913 wattle was represented on the Commonwealth coat of arms and the first wattle blossom stamp was issued in December of the same year. During the first world war, sprigs of wattle were sent in letters from family to soldiers on the front lines, and wattle was sold on street corners to raise funds for the war effort. In 1988 golden wattle was named as Australia’s national floral emblem, and in 1992 a national wattle day was finally re-established on September 1.
To order photos from this page click here
