Everyday, everywhere, New Zealanders are referred to as Kiwis. On the news, in conversation, at sports games… whenever a New Zealander appears on the scene, you are likely to hear them called “Kiwi”. But why?

In this blog I explore the origins of our popular nickname, ‘Kiwi’. I describe how images of the Kiwi were used to sell products and services, before later becoming a symbol of New Zealand during the first world war, and then, finally, how Kiwi became part of our national identity. Join me as we reflect on some of New Zealand’s key historical moments and learn how New Zealanders came to be known as “Kiwis”.

About the Kiwi

A UNIQUE NATIVE BIRD

So, let’s start with the basics. Let’s talk about Kiwis (the bird, I mean!) The Kiwi bird is a native bird of New Zealand that has several unique characteristics such as its long beak, cat-like whiskers, feathers that look like hair, and the fact it has wings but it can’t fly. They’re pretty small, about the size of the chicken, and are rarely seen due to the fact that: a) they are an endangered species, b) they live in the bush, and c) they are nocturnal, so they only come out night.

Not many people realise this, but the name, “Kiwi” is actually a Māori word. It was given to Kiwis because of the shrill call the male Kiwis make at night. Imagine a high pitched scream… “kii-wiii! kii-wiii!” Get it? So they were called “Kiwi”. If you’re curious, Te Aka Maori Dictionary has a sound recording of the Kiwi call here. (Look for this icon 🔊 in a red circle. It is to the right of the definition)

Anyway, despite it being a bird that can’t fly, makes annoying noises at night, and is rarely seen, it’s a pretty special bird to use New Zealanders, and images of the Kiwi have been used for decades.

Kiwi as an emblem

LOGOS, TRADEMARKS & MORE

From around the second half of the 19th century, images of the Kiwi started to appear on product packaging – vetirinary medicines, seeds, drugs, varnishes, and insurance…to name a few examples.  Additionally, Auckland University put a Kiwi on their college crest, NZ post featured the Kiwi on postage stamps, and, most exciting of all, the Kiwi appeared on money! In no time at all, the Kiwi had been adopted as a emblem various New Zealand products and services.

As the Kiwi popped up more and more, it started to be considered something of a national icon. A Kiwi on a product suggested it was locally made, New Zealand owned, and stirred up feelings of national pride. Interestingly, there was no official decision to make the Kiwi a national icon of New Zealand. It just sort of evolved that way.

But anyway, why Kiwis?

At this stage, I’m still wondering why the Kiwi became so popular… Why not another native bird? Well, remember how I mentioned that Kiwis are an endangered species? It turns out that that had a big influence on why Kiwis became our national bird and later, symbol.

With the rise of settlers arriving on New Zealand shores by ship, there was also a rise in pests entering our forests. Stoats, possums, rats, and other animals ate the baby eggs of Kiwi and as a result, the population declined rapidly. As the number of Kiwis decreased, the love of Kiwis increased… In a kind of bittersweet love story, Kiwis started to treasure the Kiwi and so of course, it was the first choice for images on brand logos and emblems like the examples given above.

Additionally, it is also thought that the Kiwi might have been chosen because it was funny-looking (and therefore memorable) and also, easy to draw. I mean, I’ve got to agree, it’s definitely unique!

Kiwi as a symbol

CARTOONS AND COMMENTARY

Before long, the Kiwi had become a symbol of New Zealand. And in addition to being used as a logo or trademark as we saw earlier, images of the Kiwi started being used to represent New Zealand as a nation. Where? In cartoons…

Now, when I say cartoons, I don’t mean kids’ cartoons. I’m talking about the kinds of cartoons that we see printed in newspapers. You know, the ones that pick a recent event and add commentary to it. Cartoons that reference current affairs – sport, trade, politics, for example, whatever is going on at the time. This is where we started to see Kiwis used to symbolise the country of New Zealand.

For example, after a big rugby game where New Zealand beat Great Britain, a cartoon was published of a Kiwi growing into a Moa. A Moa, by the way, is a now extinct New Zealand bird that looks similar to a Kiwi, only it’s huge – I mean, taller than you! The idea was to show the Kiwi growing bigger, better and stronger after their victory. In this way, the Kiwi represented the New Zealand sports team, and by extension, New Zealand as a whole. Then, just a year later, the Kiwi was featured once more. This time the topic was politics, and in the cartoon we see a Kiwi and Kangaroo going to a colonial conference. They, of course, represented the Australian and New Zealand government, who had recently been at a conference together.

The Kiwi was used again and again in these sorts of cartoons, and as it did so it became a clear symbol of New Zealand – a bird to to represent the nation. Interestingly, the Moa, another flightless bird native to New Zealand, also featured in these kinds of cartoons, but it soon went extinct and so the Kiwi became number one. (Aha! I knew there had to have been other birds competing for national icon status! 😉) Other symbols that were used for New Zealand around that time included fern leaves, a small boy, and a lion cub. Slowly but surely, though, the Kiwi took over as the main symbol of New Zealand.

Kiwi as a nickname

WORLD WAR I

Kiwi as a national identity

KIWIS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Fast forward to the present day and “Kiwi” is used interchangeably with “New Zealander”. In fact, I’d guess that “Kiwi” is even more common. And we see and hear it everywhere – on the news, at the pub, in the Olympics…whenever New Zealanders are involved, there’s a good chance they’ll referred to as Kiwis.

Now, something interesting that I uncovered when researching for this blog post was how people feel about being called “Kiwi”, and specifically, whether or not they actually identify as Kiwi. While “Kiwi” is widely used to talk about New Zealanders both nationally and internationally, not everyone is happy about it.

On one side of the fence, there are people who argue that the term “Kiwi” carries a stereotypical image of what it means to be a New Zealander…white, middle-class, loves rugby, works on the farm, drinks beer… you get the picture. While that stereotype might be true of some New Zealanders, it fails to represent minorities and, really, anyone who doesn’t fit the mould. As a result, it’s criticised for not being inclusive of our diverse population. As an alternative, some people prefer to identify as Māori, Pākehā, New Zealander, Chinese-New Zealander, and so on.

On the other hand, others argue that “Kiwi” is inclusive, and can be used to celebrate all New Zealanders, whatever their heritage, under one umbrella. They stress that the term “Kiwi” helps them to connect with their lived experience of growing up in New Zealand, and is more about their cultural connection to New Zealand rather than their biological race or family heritage.

It’s an interesting point to consider, and when hearing these perspectives, I was confronted with the reminder that actually, New Zealand has a pretty shameful history of racism (colonisation, Asiatic Restriction Bill, Dawn Raids, to name a few examples) and ongoing problems with racism, so maybe there’s something to be learned here. I think we can all agree that we want a nickname like “Kiwi” to include rather than exclude people, so it’s important to hear these perspectives and learn from others’ experiences.

Anyway, that requires a deep dive into an entirely new topic, so rather than writing any more on it I will include some links below to further reading if you’re interested. For now, just keep remember that while most people identify as Kiwi, not everyone does, so just be mindful.

Conclusion

And so, that brings us to the end! To sum up, we learned that “Kiwi” is a longstanding nickname that dates back to roughly World War 1, although the Kiwi bird had already been used in various forms of symbolism since well before then. We reflected on how, when, and where the term “Kiwi” is used, and some of the attitudes towrads the nickname within New Zealand. I, for one, learned a lot writing this blog, and I hope you did too!