Prime Minister John Key pictured wearing a pin of the Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) flag at an event confirming funding for Auckland's City Rail Link in January 2016.
Prime Minister John Key favoured a change to the New Zealand flag and made no secret of his personal preference for a flag with a fern. In the lead-up to the second flag referendum, he starting wearing the Silver Fern alternative to the current New Zealand flag as a lapel pin.
Following the announcement of the referendum result, Key acknowledged that he was ‘naturally a little bit disappointed’ but encouraged New Zealanders to continue to use the current flag, ‘embrace it and, more importantly, be proud of it’. [1]
[1] NZ Herald, 24 March 2016; twitter.com/johnkeypm, 24 March 2016
