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In the early 1980s, South Australia was quietly preparing to celebrate a grand milestone: 150 years since 1836, the proclamation and founding of the province. A team of planners, historians and artists established a ‘Jubilee 150’ committee to find a way to mark the occasion. Not only with ceremonies and monuments, but with a visual identity that could be crafted on posters, souvenirs, plaques, and public spaces. 

They chose Lyndon Whaite, a South Australian designer known for clarity of form and symbolic strength, to craft their logo. Whaite knew that the identity had to belong to South Australia in a bold, modern way, but also rooted in tradition. 

What he created was simple yet powerful: a stylised piping shrike, the state emblem, rendered with crisp geometry. The bird takes flight in a dynamic shape that suggests movement upward and outward. Its wings and body are abstracted into bold, block-like forms. 

Design of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo

Layout plan of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo design.

One of the initial drafts of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo design

One of the initial drafts of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo design.

Poster for the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 celebrations

Poster for the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 celebrations.

The most exciting venue in 150 years : South Australia 150 in 1986
Vehicle registration sticker featuring the 150 Jubilee logo

Vehicle registration sticker featuring the 150 Jubilee logo. Do you remember these stickers?

Design of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo
One of the initial drafts of the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 logo design
Poster for the 1836-1986 Jubilee 150 celebrations
The most exciting venue in 150 years : South Australia 150 in 1986
Vehicle registration sticker featuring the 150 Jubilee logo

He incorporated two of the state's colours, red and gold, alongside black and white, so the logo sat firmly in South Australia’s visual heritage while feeling contemporary. 

When 1986 arrived, the logo appeared everywhere. It was on posters announcing celebrations (including a poster titled The most exciting venue in 150 years), on brochures, on badges and plaques, and in the “Jubilee 150 Walkway” of bronze commemorative plaques along North Terrace, Adelaide.  

For many people, the piping-shrike logo became the face of the celebrations, a clean, bold mark that said South Australia was looking both backwards at its founding and forwards to its future. 

When all the festivals faded, the plaques remained. The Walkway still carries names of historical South Australian figures with the logo that symbolises the moment when that the state paused to reflect on its 150 years, dressed in design. 

 

Explore more 

Lyndon Whaite Graphic Design Pty. Ltd (SLSA: BRG 340)  

Catalogue search results: South Australia Jubilee 150 

‘The most exciting venue in 150 years : South Australia 150 in 1986’, poster. (SLSA: ZPL 0149)