New Zealand may take Union Jack off flag

Country’s royalist PM notes Canada never regretted decision

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — New Zealand’s prime minister has raised the prospect of a referendum to change the country’s flag and abolish the Union Jack flag from its design.

John Key said he would favour the silver fern, based on New Zealand’s native flora and the symbol of the All Blacks rugby team.

Describing the emblem as having “international recognition and cachet,” he said: “In my view, the silver fern is something which is applied to our greatest sporting teams. I think it’s part of the modern, new look of New Zealand.”

A plebiscite would offer New Zealanders the choice of keeping the current flag or an alternative chosen by the government, he said.

He believed that the public was probably split 50-50 on the subject.

The Union flag has featured in the top left corner of both the New Zealand and Australian flags for more than a century.

New Zealand’s flag was introduced after almost 30 years of war between British colonial troops and Maori warriors in the mid-19th century.

It replaced the existing flag of a confederation of tribes called United Tribes of New Zealand, which ironically borrowed its insignia from the Cross of St George, England’s patron saint.

There placement flag showing allegiance to Britain and was first introduced for restricted use in 1869, before it was approved by Edward VII in 1902.

Any move to abolish the flag will stir deep controversy, especially among former servicemen.

John Banks, the leader of the Act Party, which supports Key’s minority government, said that he did not want the flag changed.

“Men fought under that flag and sacrificed their lives in many war campaigns,” he noted, adding: “God save the Queen.”

Key, who is a royalist and spent a weekend with the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland last September, has admitted that he would like a design to include the silver fern.

“I’d like to see a change,” he told reporters. “But firstly it’s not the single biggest issue that we as a country face.

“And secondly, even with those who want to change, there’s not universal support for what we should change to.

“My personal view is, silver fern’s the right way to go.”

He said Canada, another former British colony, had never regretted adopting its distinctive maple leaf flag in 1965.

Support for change will come from across a broad spectrum, including Helen Clark, the country’s former Labour prime minister, and New Zealand’s Green party leader.

Hone Harawira, the leader of the Maori nationalist Mana Party, is calling for a Maori sovereignty motif.

Like Australia, Papua New Guinea and Samoa, New Zealand’s flag depicts the Southern Cross, the brightest constellation in the southern hemisphere.