Silver Fern

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Lore & Background

In traditional Māori culture, ponga is seen as a symbol of new life and growth. Ponga trunks were often used in the construction of whare, walls and palisades. The koru symbol, which depicts the shape of an unfurling silver fern frond, is found extensively in Māori art, including in designs of carvings, marae and tā moko. Pūrākau (traditional stories) involve the silver fern once living in the sea, and that hunters at night time would use the white underside of fern fronds to mark a path home in the darkness, as the undersides could easily catch moonlight.

In Their Own Story

In 1998, Cultural Affairs Minister Marie Hasler of the National Party first suggested adopting a silver fern flag as New Zealand's official flag, a proposal backed by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. They championed the white fern on black design, likening it to the Canadian Maple Leaf. Later, in 2003, Team New Zealand launched the 'Loyal' campaign featuring a silver fern flag and Dave Dobbyn's song of the same name. By March 11, 2014, Prime Minister John Key announced a referendum on changing the national flag, noting his preference for the All Blacks version. Of 10,292 design submissions, approximately 3,113 incorporated fern elements, with three reaching the shortlist.

Reader's Guide

The silver fern is one of the most widely recognised symbols of New Zealand. The first use of the silver fern as a symbol representing New Zealand was during the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team tour of Britain, after which the symbol came to be used on dairy products exported from New Zealand to the United Kingdom. The silver fern was used as an identifier by the New Zealand Army during the Second Boer War. Since then, the silver fern has been used by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during both world wars, and all Commonwealth war graves of fallen New Zealand soldiers have the silver fern engraved on their tombstones. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egyptians took exception to New Zealand and Canadian peacekeepers having the Union Flag on their uniforms. Canadian troops wore the Maple Leaf whereas the New Zealand contingent wore a silver fern symbol. New Zealand peacekeepers have since used both the silver fern and kiwi symbols for different deployments to differentiate from their Australian and British counterparts. Additionally, several British Army units wear the silver fern, normally as a battle honour granted for serving with New Zealand troops. For example, the Queen’s Royal Hussars, the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry and the Warwickshire Yeomanry, all of whom fought with 2nd New Zealand Division at the Second Battle of El Alamein. The silver fern has long been used on dairy products, including the logo of New Zealand Natural, and was trademarked as early as 1885. It is a logo for many other organisations, such as (heavily stylised) the rail operator KiwiRail. The Silver Fern is also the name of a class of railcar. Silver fern fronds appear on the coat of arms of New Zealand. Some alternative flags for New Zealand, such as the silver fern flag, utilise the fern. The official proposal of the 2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums featured the silver fern. The silver fern is also used extensively within politics and printed material, such as the logo of the New Zealand Labour Party. The koru is part of the design of the Māori flag, and is used in a stylised form as the logo for national airline Air New Zealand. Its circular shape conveys the idea of perpetual movement, and its inward coil suggests a return to the point of origin. The silver fern has been used as a symbol by New Zealand national sports teams, in various stylised forms, since it was fi

Did You Know?

• The silver fern is known to grow to heights of 10 metres (33 ft) or more, though it occasionally takes a rare creeping form.
• The species was first formally described in 1786 by German naturalist Georg Forster as Polypodium dealbatum.
• The Māori word ponga is a term used across Polynesian languages to describe tree ferns.
• The silver fern occurs on the main islands of New Zealand, though absent from the west and south regions of the South Island, and is endemic to New Zealand, not found on Lord Howe Island.
• The koru symbol, which depicts the shape of an unfurling silver fern frond, is found extensively in Māori art.