Southern Tasmania's Taroona Rugby Club will wear a historic Indigenous jersey for the remainder of the 2023 season after partnering with prominent Palawa artist Sharnie Read.

The Penguins will don the strip in both of Taroona's round 11 double-header fixtures, which sees them host the Devonport Bulls in Tasmanian Rugby Union (TRU) Premiership division, whilst meeting Launceston in the Championship division.

Ms Read said the kit was reflective of the Penguins' values and connections to people and country.

"I always sit down with clubs and ask about their cultural background and try to establish an understanding of what's important and why they want to wear an Indigenous jersey," Ms Read said.

"After consultation with the club, we've created a design that focuses on the environment in which they play, train, and live together."

Ms Read, a Senior Aboriginal Heritage Officer with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre has designed numerous Indigenous sporting uniforms for Hobart-based sporting teams, including the likes of the Hobart Hurricanes and Tasmanian JackJumpers.

Similar to her previous designs, the local environment has been represented by Ms Read on the Taroona playing strip.

"Kunanyi/Mt Wellington was very prominent, so the shape of mountain and organ pipes feature in the design, the bluegum also features heavily, and timtumili minanya/River Derwent as well – all environmental elements that show the club's connection to the land," Ms Read said.

"There are also songlines and histories written into our landscapes, so this jersey has a songline that represents past players, club members, and of course there is the penguin design representing the club's logo and history."

Taroona club president Simon Plumb said the Indigenous jersey would be a source of ongoing pride for the Penguins.

"Sharnie and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre have been terrific, as have the very clever people from Canterbury, but this whole idea has been player driven," Mr Plumb said.

"A working group of our Indigenous players and club leaders have worked closely on this for some time with Sharnie and ensuring our club values are well represented on the jersey.

"This isn't a one-off – both our men's teams and our women's team will wear these throughout the rest of the season and we'd like that to be the case going forward."

The Penguins currently sit second on the TRL Premiership ladder with 43 points and third on the TRU Championship ladder with 23 points.

There are four rounds left in the TRU Premiership season.