Boxing kangaroo banner still hanging

The banner that the Australian Olympic team has hung in downtown Vancouver will come down as soon as the International Olympic Committee wants it to, Australian officials say.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to issue any such order, so the 50-square-metre banner featuring a cartoon-like image of a kangaroo wearing red boxing gloves continues to adorn the side of one of the athletes' residences on False Creek.

"We're not that belligerent in our approach with the IOC," said Australian chef de mission Ian Chesterman.

"They're very important partners of ours and we would like to work co-operatively and hopefully they get to see things our way."

The boxing kangaroo image first came to prominence when it flew from the winning Australian sailboat in the 1983 America's Cup yachting competition.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) now owns the image's trademark and uses the figure as a team mascot at both the Winterand Summer Olympics.

The fact that it is technically a commercial trademark could be the key reason the banner would be ordered removed. IOC rules prohibit the display of unsanctioned commercial signs on Games-controlled properties like the Olympic Village.

Image popularity soaring

The AOC could stand to make royalty money from sales if only copies of the banner were widely available in Vancouver.

"The phone calls, the phone calls. It's unbelievable," said Susan Braverman of The Flag Shop in Vancouver.

Braverman said the storehad more than 60 phone calls inquiring about the boxing kangaroo image early Friday alone.

"What we're trying to figure out now is which one the public can buy at a store in Australia," Braverman said.

"If that one's available to the public and it's a boxing kangaroo, we'll sell that one."

If the banner must come down from the side of the Olympic Village building, the city of Surrey, B.C., is ready to hang it prominently.

"That's what it's all about," said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. "It's camaraderie. It's supporting athletes and that's what we're here to do."