Australians are nothing if not diverse.
While countries like the United States appear to have little trouble defining what The Star-Spangled Banner means to them, Australia Day 2015 is once again fodder for contentious debate about what it means to be Australian.
On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, citizens voiced their opinions about the national holiday. From congratulating Australia Day honour recipients, to denouncing racism, reinforcing our slang and complaining about our collective fascination with booze, Australians took to social media platforms to add their 2 cents worth about what it means to be, well, Aussie.
The national airline, Qantas, sponsored Twitter's "official" hashtag, #AustraliaDay.
@petstarr If
@Qantas does own
#AustraliaDay it will be changed to Sydney Day soon. — Sean (@esseeeayeenn)
January 25, 2015
But many Australians ignored the promotion completely, opting to create their own popular tags.
#InvasionDay and #SurvivalDay drew attention to the fact that January 26 marks the beginning of white settlement in Australia, and therefore also the plight of Indigenous Australians.
the most beautiful map of Australia
#AustraliaDay
#invasionday
pic.twitter.com/u78a3vD7Zs — Di W (@di_f_w)
January 25, 2015
#ChangeTheDate took the theme one step further, petitioning for the Australia Day commemoration to be moved and dissociated from the darker aspects of our history.
We're a mixed bag, common in our differences. Institutionalize this, and celebrate this, by changing the date.
#AustraliaDay
#ChangeTheDate — Eleanor Scott (@eleanordscott)
January 26, 2015
This coincided with protest marches in major cities.
March about to start in Brisbane.
#SurvivalDay
#invasionday
pic.twitter.com/1Sivq5COMm — David Busch (@david_busch)
January 26, 2015
#FiveWordsToRuinAustraliaDay was used to highlight broader political issues as much as it was for a good laugh.
#FiveWordsToRuinAustraliaDay Asylum seekers on Manus Island — Hilly (@Hillyhobbit)
January 26, 2015
A dingo ate my hashtag
#FiveWordsToRuinAustraliaDay — Tim Welsh-Eliot (@timwelsheliot)
January 26, 2015
There were also plenty of tweets about barbeques, boozing and beaches, with many embracing their inner bogan using #StrayaDay and #Straya.
#HappyAustraliaDay to all my
#AussieMates time to turn on the
#barbie have beer hit the
#beach
#AustraliaDay
#Straya
pic.twitter.com/pmdPytFRnn — Edgar H. Campa (@TheEdgarCampa)
January 25, 2014
On a train behind a mullet, across from a rat's tail, with weird grunts up the back as we pass Sunshine station (industrial estate)
#straya — Sean Parnell (@seanparnell)
January 26, 2015
#YouKnowYoureAustralianWhen was an invitation to focus on what we share, rather than our differences.
#youknowyoureaustralianwhen fries are chips, crisps are chips and basically everything else is chips — Eliza " (@Eliza_Jemma)
January 25, 2015
Prime Minister Tony Abbott tweeted his Australia Day address, but was otherwise the target of ridicule, particularly when it came to the decision to knight a British royal, Prince Philip. His re-hashed comment on social media being "electronic graffiti" earned its own hashtag.
Mr Abbott, as Prime Minister (Court Jester) of Australia, I demand that you make Shaun the Sheep a Knight.
#auspol
#knightsanddames — Jeremy de Korte (@jdk_music)
January 25, 2015
It was a reprise for the #KnightsAndDames theme, which caused a stir last year when the Prime Minister first announced the resurretion of the monarchist tradition.
Last night I went to sleep in 2015. I woke up in 1915.
#auspol
#knightsanddames — Sean (@esseeeayeenn)
January 26, 2015
Further afield, some of our most famous exports sent virtual postcards back home.
And a campaign from Australian Buzzfeed editor Mark Di Stefano to get Taylor Swift into the Triple J Hottest 100 finally came to a head after the national youth broadcaster disqualified the pop star.
Plenty of jokesters rang home the punchline by calling for Ms Swift to be made a Dame.
Hahaha we're handing out Australian Knights and Dames to foreigners?!! "Arise Dame Taylor Alison Swift"
#Tay4Hottest100 — Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef)
January 25, 2015
