Kiwi (people)

The kiwi has long had a special significance for the indigenous Māori people, who used its skin to make feather cloaks (kahu kiwi) for chiefs.[3] The bird first came to European attention in 1811 when a skin ended up in the hands of a British Museum zoologist, George Shaw, who classified it as a type of penguin and portrayed it as standing upright.[7][8] After early sightings by Europeans the kiwi was regarded as a curiosity; in 1835 the missionary William Yate described it as "the most remarkable and curious bird in New Zealand".[9]

In the early 1900s cartoonists began to use the kiwi as a representation of New Zealand. For example, in a 1904 New Zealand Free Lance cartoon a plucky kiwi is shown growing to a moa after a rugby victory of 9–3 over a British team.[10] The next year, The Westminster Gazette printed a cartoon of a kiwi and a kangaroo (representing Australia) going off to a colonial conference.[10] Trevor Lloyd, who worked for The New Zealand Herald, also used a kiwi to represent the All Blacks rugby team, but he more often drew a moa.[3] Other symbols for New Zealand at this time included the silver fern, a small boy and a young lion cub.[10] But until the First World War the kiwi was used as a symbol of the nation rather than the people of New Zealand.[3]

Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) roundel, featuring a red kiwi in silhouette

In the early-20th century, New Zealanders, especially soldiers and All Blacks players, were referred to internationally as "En Zed(der)s"[3] (in reference to the initials of the country's name) or "Maorilanders" (alluding to the Māori people and their historical contribution to the country).[11] These terms were still being used near the end of the First World War of 1914–18. However, although New Zealand soldiers were often described as "Diggers" or as "Pig Islanders",[12] by 1917 they were also being called "Kiwis".[3][13]

The image of the kiwi had appeared on military badges since the South Canterbury Battalion used it in 1886,[14] and several regiments took it up in the First World War. "Kiwis" came to mean the men of New Zealand regiments.[3] The nickname is not thought to have originated as a reference to the physical attributes of the New Zealand servicemen (i.e. implying they were short and stocky or nocturnal like the bird). It was simply that the kiwi was distinct and unique to the country.[3] Its prominent use on the New Zealand regiments' insignia also made for easy association.[5][15] The nickname eventually became common usage in all war theatres.[3]

The Bulford Kiwi was created above the town of Bulford on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England in 1919.

After the end of the First World War in November 1918, many New Zealand troops stayed in Europe for months or years awaiting transport home. At Sling Camp, near Bulford on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, New Zealand soldiers carved a chalk kiwi into the nearby hill in early 1919.[16][17] The New Zealanders' presence popularised the nickname within Europe.[3]

A can of Kiwi shoe polish

An Australian boot polish called Kiwi was widely used in the imperial forces. William Ramsay, a developer of the product, named the polish in honour of his wife's birthplace, New Zealand.[3] Beginning in 1906, Kiwi Shoe Polish eventually became widely sold in the UK and the US, and the symbol became more widely known.[18] The Australian National Dictionary[19] also gives the first use of the term "Kiwi Kids" and "Kiwis" in 1917, to mean Australian army recruits who had kiwied up; in other words, they had highly-polished boots.[20]

Following the Second World War of 1939–1945 the term gradually became attributed to all New Zealanders, and today throughout the world they are referred to as Kiwis, as well as often referring to themselves that way.[4][2]