Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions

The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). It is usually shortened to the acronym ANARE pronounced an-ah-ree (æn aː ɹʷi).

The ANARE Name

The name ANARE fell out of official use in the early 2000s. However current and former Australian Antarctic expeditioners continue to use the term informally as a means of identification with the long and continuous history of Australian expeditions to Antarctica. Australia has had a long involvement in south polar regions since as early as Douglas Mawson's Australian Antarctic Expedition expedition in 1911. The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions were established in 1947 with expeditions to Macquarie Island and Heard Island . In 1948 the AAD was established to administer the expedition program.

ANARE Symbols

Soon after being appointed Antarctic Division director in 1949, Dr Phillip Law saw the need for a recognisable symbol for the fledgling ANARE. His wife, Nel, was an artist and produced the distinctive and enduring circular emblem that Dr Law described as "...a circular badge whose centre is the Antarctic Continent with the Australian sector shaded. Surrounding this is an annular set of designs depicting flora and fauna of Antarctica and the Sub-Antarctic Islands."

The main ANARE emblem was, in Dr Law's words, "too complex to reproduce as a lapel badge or as a logo on aircraft, vehicles or flags." Dr Law saw potential in the Leopard Seal as a simplified ANARE symbol. "I was struck with the possibility of formalising a sketch of the creature to produce a geometrical pattern of straight lines....I drew it in the national colours of gold and green." That symbol served until 1985, when a new 'globe' logo based on the Australian and Antarctic continents was developed by the AAD (Bowden, 'The Silence Calling' 1997: 373).

At the same time the term ANARE fell out of official use the 'globe' logo was also discarded in favour of the Australian coat of arms to bring the livery of the AAD in line with the rest of the Australian Public Service. However like the ANARE name the logo continues to be used on an informal basis by expeditioners each year in the production of Antarctic Station badges, T-Shirts and other memorabilia.

ANARE Club

The ANARE Club is a membership organisation established in 1951 for current and previous members of Australian Antarctic expeditions. Its head quarters are based in Melbourne, Australia with branches in most Australian capital cities. Membership is open to anyone who has travelled to Antarctic or subantarctic regions with the Australian Antarctic Program. It provides a social focus for current and former expeditioners. The club's membership is well over 1,000. Its emblem is the Emperor penguin on a map of Antarctica.

References

Tim Bowden, "The Silence Calling: Australians in Antarctica 1947-97: the ANARE Jubilee History" (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1997).

ee also

*List of Antarctic expeditions
*Vostok traverse

External links

* [http://www.aad.gov.au/ Australian Antarctic Division]
* [http://www.anareclub.org.au/ ANARE Club]