Kiwi is a flightless bird that is the size of a domestic chicken, and it is native and restrictedIn 1851, London Zoo became the first place outside of New Zealand to house a living kiwi. to New Zealand.
The earliest settlement in New Zealand happened between 1280 and 1300, and these settlers developed a distinct culture now known as Māori.
The Māori people (they still form over 15% of the total NZ population) always held Kiwi in high regard.
And for a long time, they used to make garments for tribal chiefs using Kiwi feathers—Kiwi feathers still hold high heritage value.
In 1900, a weekly newspaper called New Zealand Free Lance was founded that was known to depict news pictorially.
And when NZ beat England in a rugby match in 1904, the New Zealand Free Lance printed a cartoon showing NZ Kiwi claiming the rugby ball from a lion (the royal arms of England has three lions).
A year later, another cartoon was published to depict New Zealand’s rugby team’s controversial loss against Wales.
After a few more Kiwi references to signify NZ, the bird became the key emblem for national cartoons, especially in sports.
Till WWI, the kiwi bird was used to represent the nation and not the people.
During WWI, for the first time, the NZ soldiers were referred to as Kiwis.
This was done because of the NZ soldiers’ good nature, which was believed to be unique to them—much like how the Kiwi bird was unique to NZ.
