Piping shrike

The badge on the Flag of South Australia depicts the rising sun, and a Piping Shrike standing on a branch of a gum tree.

The South Australian Governor used the term Piping Shrike for the White-backed Magpie in correspondence, and wrote the words "Australian piping shrike" on the back of drawing proposals of the bird for the State badge of South Australia in the early 1900s.

[1] The nephew of Robert Craig of the School of Arts claims that he was solely responsible for the original design.

[11] A similar argument is made by the relatives of the Adelaide artist Frances Jane Warhurst who claim that she based it on the eagle on the seal of the Prussian consul, a close friend of hers.

[11] The badge design, which set the bird against a backdrop of the yellow risen sun of Australian Federation, was incorporated into the state flag (1904) and the coat of arms (1984).

The Governor wrote the following heraldic description on the back of the painting: “The rising sun – or – Thereon an Australian piping shrike displayed proper – under a pomegranate flower amid leaves and standing on a gum-staff, raguly, gules and vert.” (or = gold, displayed proper = in its natural colours, raguly = with oblique lines, gules = red, vert = green).

[14] The range of the subspecies (Gymnorhina tibicen telonocua) of the Australian Magpie is almost entirely confined to South Australia.

As Professor Gisela Kaplan has confirmed,[citation needed] the bird is clearly a White-backed Magpie, so this leaves no doubt about the identity of the piping shrike.

[20] The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History states: “---- a White-backed Magpie (piping shrike) on the branch of a gum tree against a yellow background, representing the rising sun.” [21]