The badge is diamond shaped, the same dimensions as the old Diamond Valley badge. (Banyule District was the combination of the City of Heidelberg & parts of the Shire of Diamond Valley). The badge portrays the Banyule area with hills, trees and the rivers running all the way through the area.
The hills actually represent Banyule. Banyule is an old Aboriginal word meaning "The Hill".
The River represents the Yarra River.
The trees represent the large number of trees in the area and in particular the two large wattle branches, represent the large number of wattle trees in the area.
The badge uses the brush stroke "B" (as found in the Banyule Council logo) in the shape of the "Welcome Swallow", a bird found in the area. The use of the brush stroke suggests festivity and liveliness and acknowledges the artistic heritage of Banyule. The tail drafted more formally suggests the dynamic energy and forward direction of the new municipality.
In between the words Banyule District is the Scout Symbol - the Fleur-de-Lis - a lily, the emblem of peace and purity.
Baden-Powell chose Scouting's emblem - the sign for the North Point, universally shown on maps, charts and compass cards, because "it points in the right direction (and upwards), turning neither to the right nor left, since these lead backward again..." Lady Baden-Powell added later, "It shows the true way to go." Baden-Powell explained the origins of this sign. In the Middle Ages, mariner Flavio Gioja designed it to make the seaman's compass more reliable. In Italian, North was "Tramontana". Gioja used a capital "T" to mark it, and in deference to King Charles of Naples, whose crest was the Fleur-de-Lis, combined the letter with that emblem. To explain the meaning of the Scout emblem, Baden-Powell said, "The two stars on the two side arms stand for the two eyes of the Wolf Cub having been opened before he became a Scout... The three points of the Fleur-de-Lis remind the Scout of the three points of the Scout's Promise..."
The three tips of the Fleur-de-Lis represent the three main parts of the Scout promise: duty to God, obedience to the Scout Law, and service to others. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, and the 10 points on the stars remind us of the 10 points of the Scout law. The ring holding the emblem together represents the bond of brotherhood.
The 20 suburbs of Banyule City lie on 63 square kilometres between 7 and 21 kilometres north-east of central Melbourne. These suburbs are: Bellfield, Briar Hill, Bundoora, Eaglemont, Eltham North, Greensborough, Heidelberg, Heidelberg Heights, Heidelberg West, Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe East, Lower Plenty, Macleod, Montmorency, Rosanna, St Helena, Viewbank, Watsonia, Watsonia North and Yallambie. The Yarra River runs along the City's south border while the west is defined by Darebin Creek.
Banyule Scouting District does not include Lower Plenty.
Banyule's landscape is gently to steeply undulating, apart from some relatively flat land in the west and on the river floodplains. Native vegetation flourishes in the east and north-east, while exotic trees and shrubs dominate the City's southern and western parts.
Banyule is renowned for its open spaces and plentiful parklands, especially along the Yarra and Plenty River valleys. There are 466 hectares of council-owned open space in Banyule, as well as substantial areas of parkland managed by Parks Victoria. These provide a wealth of recreational, environmental and tourism opportunities for the region. There are sites of botanical, zoological, habitat and heritage significance, including aboriginal archaeological sites and scar trees, and points of interest associated with the Heidelberg School of Artists.
The city is primarily a residential area and retaining the character of these individual neighbourhoods is important to the local community.
There are industrial areas in Heidelberg West, Greensborough/Briar Hill and Bundoora, as well as institutions such as the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre and Simpson Army Barracks. Banyule also has a range of educational, health and leisure facilities.
