Australians Are Cheering On The Matildas For Posing With The Aboriginal Flag Ahead Of Their Olympic Games Match
[ad_1]
What a beautiful way to celebrate and show solidarity to First Nations peoples.
Yesterday, the Matildas — Australia’s national soccer team — started off their Tokyo Olympic Games journey with a bang, by winning 2-1 against New Zealand.
Ian Macnicol / Getty Images
While this was a fantastic victory in itself, the Matildas made a powerful statement before the game had even started by posing with the Aboriginal flag, instead of the Australian flag.
Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP via Getty Images
According to captain Sam Kerr, the decision to take their pre-game photo with the Aboriginal flag was made after consulting with Indigenous members of the team.
“We let the Indigenous girls drive it. We didn’t want to do something that goes along with the grain, we wanted to do something that was relevant for our country.”
She continued: “We are really proud of it.”
This small, but impactful statement did not go unnoticed by Australians watching, who praised the Matildas for celebrating Aboriginal culture and showing solidarity to First Nations peoples.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s team took the knee to show their respect to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dan Mullan / Getty Images
Here’s hoping that the Aboriginal flag makes more appearances at the Olympic Games!
BuzzFeed Daily
Keep up with the latest daily buzz with the BuzzFeed Daily newsletter!