Prince Harry: Why Australian "rangas" see the royal as a hero

Redheads. Ginger. Carrots in the lead.

There are different words – some more positive than others – used around the world for people like Prince Harry, blessed with red hair.

But when a Queensland girl waved a sign saying "Rangas Rule" during the Australian tour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, you might have been forgiven for not knowing what that meant – if you did not do not live in Down Under.

Australian slang, derived from the orangutan, is another word for those with red hair – and Harry seemed to be caught off guard.

Nine-year-old Jada Quinn, who held up when Harry visited Fraser Island, said, "My father is a ranga and I am a bit of a ranga, and he enjoyed the panel."

"Excited to see my compatriot rang"

This is not the first sign proudly proclaiming his hair color – he was greeted by a "ruddy ruler!" Signed during a trip to Canberra in 2015, telling Ethan Tuscan, then 12, that "being red is the first thing that a person can ever be".

Redhead India Brown, 19, was upset when she met Harry in Melbourne earlier this month.

And then there was a woman in Dubbo, Tara Fisher, who said that she wanted to meet Harry during his current tour because "it's a sexy ranga".

This does not forget that the five year old boy who was so fascinated by Harry's beard that he decided to pet him.

Another fan of Harry, in Sydney, admitted: "You are excited to see another ranga."

So, why does that mean so much for the redheads to see a royal ranga?

Well, this may be partly because it is relatively less prevalent in Australia than in the UK, with northern European countries having the highest proportion of redheads in the world.

Emma Kelly, of Ginger Parrot, a website on the redhead lifestyle, said Australia had an emerging ginger pride movement, with an annual rally in Melbourne earlier this month.

& # 39; Ginger lovable & # 39;

"I think Ranga is considered almost a term of tenderness, although some people find it offensive," she said.

"But I think Australians are proud of it now, and it's good that Prince Harry is such an excellent model for all redheads, no matter how old they are.

"I have an age similar to this one, so when I was growing up and I was bullied, he was still in the press and everyone liked him – and I did not like him. Is a very friendly ginger, so it really puts things in a positive light.

"It's really well done, so it's seen as having someone in your team.There have been a lot of royal redheads and it's a good thing to be able to do that." 39; identify.

"It's good that it is so proud."

The redheads also said that they hoped that Meghan's baby and Harry would share his red hair (a Mamamia writer has already written an open letter to the unborn baby, saying it would be a "genetic ninja" s & # 39; He was born red-haired).

"Many people visit the site and wonder if their baby will be ginger," she said.

"But many do not realize that you need ginger genes on both sides.However, having freckles – as Meghan does – is a very good indicator of the presence of the gene, though that it is not a dead certificate. "

"We like the underdogs"

Her red-haired colleague Rowan Bruce, account manager in Melbourne, said the perception of red hair was slowly changing in Australia.

"The word ranga can be a bit difficult to understand because it comes from" orang-utan "," he said.

"It was only mentioned towards the end of my schooling. I was called things like "sauce head", as in tomato sauce, as well as more colorful things.

"These days, it's not really a blame to say that someone is a ranga, but it's also not a compliment." It's a little hot.

"In elementary school, having red hair was definitely a disadvantage – it was like a beacon for the brutes." I dyed my hair in so many different colors – blue, black, blonde. "

Rowan, 34, said he knew only three or four people with hair of the same color and that, although it's rare in Australia, the situation is changing.

"Although I do not really care what people think, the perception has definitely changed," he added. "We owe a lot to Ron Weasley, but I think Prince Harry has also helped.

"He's seen as an underdog, and in Australia, we like the underdogs, whether you're royal or not, a ranga is perceived as an outsider here, and everyone loves to harass him."