Understanding Australian Aboriginal Art Symbols & Their Meaning

The ongoing art tradition of Aboriginal culture stands as one of the world's oldest institutional artistic expressions connected to the cultural history, along with storytelling practices of Indigenous Australians. The core component of this traditional art practice utilises symbols so artists could express elaborate narratives alongside cultural knowledge, spiritual doctrines, and practical information, which Indigenous peoples have shared over centuries.

The art symbols function as essential storytelling elements that directly link to Dreamtime - the indigenous cosmic time concept. By analysing symbolic elements you gain essential understanding about Aboriginal cultural traditions with their essential relationship to native territories.

The following article provides a straightforward explanation of the significance of typical symbols employed in Aboriginal artistic expressions.

What are Aboriginal Art Symbols?

Indigenous Australian artists utilise Aboriginal art symbols as a visual technique to depict onto canvas various natural elements and spirituality as well as traditions and ancestral stories from Dreamtime and historical customs and cultural principles.

The visual language composed of symbols functions in various ways throughout different Australian regions and language groups, although they share fundamental image elements. These marks represent a sophisticated method of communication that Aboriginal people have taught over time during sacred procedures ranging from song to dance and artwork to sacred rituals. Indigenous symbols existed either on rock walls or within wooden carvings and stone engravings, as well as ceremonial body painting and drawings made in sand.

Artists utilise acrylic paints on canvas today for their dot painting creation, specifically from the Central and Western Desert region, and also use this style within contemporary artworks that combine traditional and modern methods. A symbol's significance alters according to multiple factors, which include the narrative conditions and geographical origins, as well as the phase of knowledge exchange that occurs.

Common Aboriginal Art Symbols and Their Meanings

Aboriginal art utilises a rich vocabulary of symbols. While interpretations can vary, many symbols have widely understood meanings. Here are some common ones:

Symbols of Natural Elements

Nature is central to Aboriginal life and spirituality, and its elements are frequently depicted.

• Fire: Fire appears through circled images to portray its meanings of warmth, along with illumination and cooking functions, as well as fire pits used for social interactions.
• Sun: The sun is depicted through circles, which sometimes include ray-like formations to represent sun energy as well as life-giving heat and glowing light. The sun traditionally connects to the colour yellow.
• Water: Lines with a wavy or meandering pattern appear in Aboriginal art as visual representations of water, as well as creeks and rivers. Waterholes receive representation through concentric circles within Aboriginal art traditions because these locations hold spiritual and practical importance for life support. The powerful being known as the Rainbow Serpent maintains a strong connection with all types of water sources, including waterholes and rainfall.
• Star: The Aboriginal people illustrate stars with both single points and tiny multi-layered circular shapes. The Dreamtime stories contain many references to stars, including the Pleiades star cluster, where the Seven Sisters narrative appears.

Symbols of People and Community

These symbols reflect social structures, relationships, and human activities.

• People Sitting: A U-shape generally represents a person sitting cross-legged on the sand.
• Meeting Place: Concentric circles often denote a meeting place, campsite, or ceremonial site. Groups of U-shapes around a central circle can signify people gathered at a meeting place.
• Women: A U-shape accompanied by symbols for a digging stick (a vertical line) and/or a coolamon (an oval shape representing a carrying dish) typically signifies a woman.
• Men: A U-shape accompanied by symbols for spears and/or boomerangs usually represents a man.
• Person: The basic U-shape represents a person.
• Family/Community: Combinations of U-shapes, often around a central motif like a campfire or meeting place, can represent family or community groups.

Symbol Related to Animals

Animals are integral to Aboriginal culture, often representing totems, food sources, or figures in Dreamtime stories.

• Animal Tracks: Footprints are used to depict the presence and movement of animals. Specific track patterns identify different creatures.
• Honey Ant: Often depicted in stylised forms, honey ants are a significant food source in desert regions and feature in related Dreamtime stories.
• Emu: Emu tracks (often arrow-like shapes) or depictions symbolise this important bird, representing endurance and spiritual insight.
• Kangaroo Tracks: Distinctive tracks represent the kangaroo, symbolising strength and agility.
• Snake: A wavy or sinuous line usually represents a snake. Snakes, particularly the Rainbow Serpent, hold deep spiritual significance related to creation, water, and fertility.

Other Aboriginal Australian Art Symbols

• Spears: Straight lines with barbs or distinct spearhead shapes represent hunting or ceremonial tools, primarily associated with men.
• Woomera: A spear-throwing tool, often depicted alongside spears.
• Shield: Often oval or elongated shapes, sometimes with intricate designs representing clan identity or specific Dreamtime stories.
• Bush Tucker / Bush Berry: Small circles or patterns of dots can represent bush foods like berries or fruits.

• Waterholes & Running Water: Concentric circles often depict waterholes, while wavy or meandering lines show running water or paths between water sources.
• Boomerangs: Curved shapes represent this iconic tool, used for hunting, digging, music, and ceremonies. Some are returning, most are not. Hunting boomerangs are often larger and non-returning.
• Tracks/Waterholes: Straight or curved lines connecting circles can represent journeys or paths between important sites like waterholes.

Regional Differences in Indigenous Art Symbols & Style

Throughout Australia, different Aboriginal art traditions show substantial variations in artistic expression across their many cultural regions. For example:

The Central and Western Deserts display their art through the distinctive dot painting technique from the 1970s, with symbols including concentric circles, U-shapes, and track patterns that interpret ancestral journey and territory stories from the Dreamtime.

The people of Northern Territory, Arnhem Land use figurative art symbols to display 'X-ray art' depicting body structures of spirit beings as well as complex rarrk, cross-hatched patterns particular to individual clans.

The Kimberley region of Western Australia showcases Wandjina mythical figures with extensive eye features and silent expression linked to rain and origin creation, and the ancient Gwion Gwion artwork collection. Rock art stands out as a major feature at this location.

These regional variations reflect local landscapes, specific Dreamtime stories, unique traditions, and the distinct artistic languages developed by different Aboriginal nations.

Dreamtime Art Symbolism

The Dreamtime (Dreaming) is fundamental to Aboriginal spirituality and art. It refers to the ancestral time of creation when spirit beings formed the landscape, laws, and ceremonies. Aboriginal art symbols are intrinsically linked to narrating these Dreamtime stories.

Traditional cultural transmission through Aboriginal art includes the illustration of ancestral journeys, mapping of holy places, and the insertion of tribal teachings. For example, among all depictions of the powerful creator spirit Rainbow Serpent, observers can see flowing lines that correspond to the legends of rivers and waterholes and mountains, along with the symbolism of life-giving water and renewal cycles. Artists typically incorporate specific symbolic patterns during their creations to show embedded Dreamtime stories to viewers seeking understanding.

Levels of Meaning in Aboriginal Art

Several layers of meaning appear within Aboriginal art pieces, which a viewer can access according to their cultural understanding and traditional initiation status.

First Level

The physical appearance – materials (like ochre or acrylics), colours, composition, and surface texture. For example, traditional cross-hatching (rarrk) in Arnhem Land art can signify the artist's clan and country based on the pattern and line thickness.

Second Level

The depicted story or subject matter includes what figures, symbols, or events appear visually. The artwork depicts either a particular animal or plant symbol, or it could portray a story about the Dreamtime, like the 'Seven Sisters' tale.

Third Level

The third degree reveals deeper mythological insights together with useful practical knowledge by linking artwork components to sacred ceremonies, accompanied by Dreamtime laws and details about dreaming ancestors' paths and environmental guidance. For instance, a painting might serve as a map indicating water sources or encode ecological knowledge.

Fourth Level

The deepest spiritual and secret/sacred meanings, often reserved for initiated elders within the community. This level connects the artwork to profound spiritual truths and ceremonial knowledge not typically shared publicly.

Influential Figures Who Shaped Aboriginal Art

The works of several important artists have helped establish Aboriginal art with its symbolic heritage throughout the national territory and beyond.

Albert Namatjira (1902-1959)

An Arrernte man, famous for his Western-style watercolour landscapes of his Central Australian homelands. The artwork of this artist launched Aboriginal perspectives about Country to viewers who were outside of Aboriginal communities.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996)

Emily emerged as an Anmatyerre elder from Utopia to become famous internationally through her abstract artistic creations after beginning painting during her later years. The creative process of her abstract paintings progressed across her artistic career to depict subjects such as the Pencil Yam Dreaming (Arlatyeye), even though she used abstract lines and dots as primary elements throughout her work.

Rover Thomas (c.1926-1998)

A Wangkatjungka/Kukatja man, influential in the East Kimberley school. Through his art, Thomas presents historical events along with sacred Dreaming stories and representations of the Kimberley landscape by using minimalist ochre compositions with powerful symbolic abstract elements.

Lionel Lindsay (1874-1961)

While he was not an Aboriginal artist, he functioned as an Australian printmaker and critic who gathered with other figures to confirm respect for the documentation of Australian art forms, including national narrative-based artwork, although his cultural heritage differed from Aboriginal perspectives.

Traditional Methods of Aboriginal Art Creation

Before canvas and acrylics gained prominence, Aboriginal artists used land-derived materials to make their art which embodied their strong cultural heritage and relationship with Country.

Ochre on Bark

Artists applied natural pigments consisting of red ochre, together with yellow ochre and white ochre and charcoal black, mixed with water or orchid juice onto flattened eucalyptus bark surfaces. The artwork originating from Arnhem Land maintains this specific artistic quality.

Rock Art

Rock Art represents the collection of ancient paintings and engravings that aboriginal creators etched onto cave walls and rock shelters by mixing ochres and additional natural pigments. Naturally, significant rock art locations show eternal Dreamtime characters along with animal figures and ceremonial artworks.

Sand Drawings

Aboriginal artists use sand drawings to create brief designs within the sand, which often serve ceremonial purposes to display stories combined with ancestral mapping.

Body Painting

During Awelye ceremonies for women, along with Yawulyu rituals for men, artists paint their bodies with ochre and other pigments, which reveal identity markers and status alongside Dreaming connections.

Dot Art and Its Global Recognition

The Papunya Tula movement launched dot painting art in the Central Desert region of Australia during the early 1970s, which has now established itself as a globally recognised Indigenous artistic style. Dots became a symbol for concealing sacred motifs from those outside the artistic community during the first stage of public artwork production. Through their artwork, artists applied dot patterns as a cover for their original sacred symbols.

Artists developed the initial dotting technique into an advanced practice that enabled complex designs together with representation of topography (such as mountains or vegetation areas), Dreamtime energies, and space fill. The traditional pattern of dotting achieved mesmerising effects through its meticulous nature when combined with colorful painting materials (both traditional ochres and contemporary acrylics) during dot art creation.

Modern Interpretations and Contemporary Aboriginal Artists

Contemporary Aboriginal artists continue to draw on ancient traditions while innovating and responding to modern life. They blend traditional symbols and Dreamtime stories with new techniques, materials, and perspectives, ensuring the art form remains dynamic and relevant. Artists explore diverse themes, including identity, history, politics, and connection to Country in a changing world. Some contemporary artists include:

Eileen Bird Kngwarreye

An Anmatyerre/Eastern Arrernte artist known for paintings related to Awelye (Women's Ceremony), Arlatyeye (Pencil Yam) Dreaming, and Snake Dreaming, often using intricate dot work and vibrant colours.

Agnes Nampijinpa Brown

A Warlpiri artist from Yuendumu known for her depictions of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) stories, often featuring detailed iconography and strong use of colour.
These artists, among many others, demonstrate the evolution of Aboriginal art, using established indigenous symbols and Aboriginal Australian art symbols in fresh and powerful ways.

How to Appreciate and Interpret Aboriginal Art Symbols

Appreciating Aboriginal art involves more than just looking; it requires understanding the cultural context and the language of symbols. Here are some beginner-friendly steps:

• Study Context: Learn about the artist, their language group, region, and the specific Dreamtime story or theme depicted. Art centres and galleries often provide this information. Understanding the origin helps grasp the specific symbolic meanings and style.
• Spot Shapes: Identify recurring symbols like U-shapes (people), concentric circles (sites/waterholes), wavy lines (water/journeys), and animal tracks. Note how they are combined.
• Research Meanings: Use reliable resources (like gallery websites, museum guides, or academic texts) to learn the common meanings of symbols, remembering that interpretations can vary. Look for explanations provided with the artwork.
• Consider the Narrative: Try to see how the symbols are connected to tell a story or map a journey across the canvas. Look at the relationships between different elements.

Remember, some meanings are sacred and not publicly shared. Focus on appreciating the artistry, the connection to culture and Country, and the stories being shared.

Conclusion: A Living Language of the Land

Aboriginal art symbols serve as an evolving language extending from history into the present and moving toward the future because they transcend ornamentation. These symbols create an understanding channel between Western cultures and Indigenous perspectives of their spiritual law and cultural meanings, in addition to their strong connection to Australia's land.

Since prehistoric times, Indigenous symbols persist in both modern canvases and ancient rock paintings to convey endless wisdom and eternal tales. Aboriginal art provides enthusiasts the ability to study the world's most time-tested cultural practices that artists preserve actively through their contemporary Aboriginal art creations.

Explore More With Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery

Deepen your understanding of Aboriginal art and the symbols found within it. Explore our collection of Aboriginal art at Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery. View our website to select Aboriginal art of your choosing, and contact us for Aboriginal art on sale.

FAQ

1.  What do Aboriginal art symbols mean?

Aboriginal art features symbols that depict essential aspects of the Dreamtime, as well as land territories along with animal characters, and people, and traditional Aboriginal stories. The particular symbolism within these different marks exists according to artistic and geographical contexts. This visual communication system enables the interpretation of stories and serves to distribute knowledge between people.

2. What is the Aboriginal symbol for God?

Aboriginal spirituality often involves reverence for ancestral Creator Spirits rather than a single 'God' figure in the Western sense. Beings like Bunjil the Eagle (Kulin Nation) or the Rainbow Serpent are powerful creator figures represented in art, but there isn't one universal symbol for 'God'.

3. What does Colour symbolise in Aboriginal art?

Colours carry significant meaning. Aboriginal artists traditionally employed the earth pigments of red for soil and blood, along with yellow for sun and sacredness, and white for spirits of the sky and black for human presence and night. Modern artists work with a broader selection of colors, yet their paint choices maintain traditional symbolic ties to Country and sacred ceremonies and ancestral knowledge of Dreaming.

4. What is the Aboriginal symbol for a girl?

There isn't a single distinct symbol universally used for "girl." Symbols often represent roles or general concepts. A U-shape represents a person, and context (like accompanying symbols for digging sticks or coolamons) often denotes a woman. Specific symbols for children might exist in certain regional contexts, but aren't as standardised as symbols for men or women.

5. What is the Aboriginal art symbol star?

Stars are often depicted as dots or small concentric circles. They feature prominently in astronomical Dreamings, such as the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) story, which involves stars representing ancestral women.

6. What is the seven-star symbol?

The 'Seven Sisters' generally refers to the Pleiades star cluster. In Aboriginal art and story, they are often depicted as a group of U-shapes (representing the sisters) or star-like symbols, frequently shown in relation to a pursuing male figure (often represented by the Orion constellation).

7. What do dots mean in Aboriginal art?

Dots can have multiple meanings depending on context. They can represent stars, sparks, sand, earth, or bush foods. Importantly, dotting also developed as a technique to obscure sacred symbols beneath layers, protecting secret knowledge when art began being made for public viewing.

8. What does the boomerang symbolise?

The boomerang is a symbol of Aboriginal ingenuity and cultural endurance. While known as a hunting tool (both returning and non-returning types exist), it also holds ceremonial significance and represents a tangible link to Aboriginal presence on the continent for millennia. It has also become a widely recognised, sometimes commercially used, symbol of Australia.