A 'cheeky' sign at a New Zealand airport has confused Australians and sparked a feud between the two rival nations.
The sign at a baggage carousel at Auckland airport read: 'Home is where the pavlova is truly made'.
One Australian spotted the brutal dig as he flew into the Kiwi city and called it a 'declaration of war'.
The traveler shared a photo of the sign with an advertisement from energy company Contact, reigniting the age-old debate about the origins of the pavlova.
“Declaration of war spotted at Auckland Airport,” they said in a post on Reddit that attracted hundreds of comments.
A sign at an Auckland airport has ruffled the feathers of Australians as they claimed pavlova was a Kiwi invention
Aussies were quick to ridicule New Zealanders for this bold claim.
“New Zealand brings that BIG little bro energy,” one user joked.
“We all know New Zealand is basically just another Australian state so the pav was created in Australia,” wrote a second.
“It's nice of them to promote tourism to Australia,” another joked, while someone added: “Now they're going to claim Phar Lap and thongs.”
Others declared that Australia would go to war with its neighbors.
'We must respond with full force. With propaganda about lamingtons!' a woman laughed.
“The time has come, let go of the licorice bears,” said another.
“It's funny because you could air this in both countries and the people watching would be happy,” one person commented.
The invention of the pavlova is widely credited to both Australia and New Zealand and dates back to the 1920s.
The invention of the pavlova is widely credited to both Australia and New Zealand and dates back to the 1920s
The festive dessert is said to be named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova after she toured Australia and New Zealand.
A recipe for a 'Strawberry Pavlova' was published in the New Zealand Herald in 1911, but it was for a type of sorbet, very different from what most know the dessert as today.
In 1922, a book entitled Australian Home Cookery contained a recipe for 'Meringue with fruit filling' which resembled a modern pavlova.
Other traces of the pavlova's beginnings include culinary anthropologist Helen Leach mentioning the recipe from New Zealand, and Perth chef Bert Sachse claiming the dish as an invention of his in 1935.