 It has often been equated with antipodean identity, the contrast to the white swan of the northern hemisphere indicating 'Australianness'.The black swan is featured on the flag, and is both the state bird and state emblem of Western Australia; it also appears in the Coat of Arms and other iconography of the state's institutions.The Noongar People of the South-West of Australia call the black swan "Kooldjak" along the West and South-West coast, "Gooldjak" in the South East and it is sometimes referred to as "maali" in language schools.