The blue Koala Borobi the official mascot of the Commonwealth Games 2018, will be seen on the sidelines of the Gold Coast as the participants are on their marks for the quest of medals. Named after Aboriginal Yugambeh language word for koala, each part of its body has a specific significance.

The blue mascot looks attractive and has crimson nose, sunscreen, aboriginal markings on hands and feet, and one thumb on each paw. The aboriginal marks denotes the participating countries at the Commonwealth Games 2018. The marks on the hands of the Koala represents the journey of the sportsmen. The wavy yellow lines on his fingertips denote 11 days of the tournament and the dots are the fans all over the world.

The catchy blue Koala Borobi ball of fur was inspired by a drawing of a Brisbane schoolteacher named Merrilyn Krohn. Talking about creating the mascot she said, “I could see the picture so I didn't Google or research until I had drawn my idea down.”

While talking about the mascot, Commonwealth Games Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said Borobi said “He is a very special and unique koala whose personality embodies all the values of the Gold Coast and the Australian way of life. He is fun, approachable, determined, passionate and active.” Gold Coast Commonwealth Games organising committee CEO Mark Peters said the name Borobi was drawn from the local Indigenous language. "Koala is internationally known as Australian and there's a whole lot of conservation issues around koalas that we will pick up," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2018 09:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).