Don’t change a flag – raise a standard!
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“For probably the only time in history, New Zealanders will soon be able to choose a uniquely New Zealand flag. The least we can do is make sure it’s wearing New Zealand’s colours and emblem” said John Ansell, creator of The Black & Silver flag.
Ansell’s motivation was “to give my country a flag that inspires our people with the highest virtues of achievement, as represented by the few who have worked hard enough to wear the silver fern on black.
“It’s not about the All Blacks, but it is about their standards. It’s about aspiring to the excellence shown by those who achieve in any field. The silver fern was used by Maori to guide travellers through the forest by moonlight. In that same spirit, people from this place led the world down into the smallest thing, (the atom), up into the biggest thing (space), and up to the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
“The best New Zealanders are world beaters. The Black & Silver will be a permanent reminder to young Kiwis that wherever they want to get in life, they can get there from here.” This flag is an idea.
The white ‘pales’ each side of the central black panel link to both our geography and human history, Ansell explains. “They represent not just the snow-cloaked mountains of the North and South Islands, but also the Long White Cloud that greeted the first Maori waka and the sails of the first European ships.”
Ansell describes himself as a proud New Zealander who is deeply grateful to his British forebears for their role in founding modern New Zealand. “They were great parents. But they granted us full independence in 1947. After sixty-eight years, it’s high time we declared it. No self-respecting kids keep wearing Mum and Dad’s clothes.”
Ansell has been quietly working to replace the British colonial flag with a silver fern design for over thirty years. As a copywriter for Colenso Communications in 1986, he won a Clemenger Australasia scholarship to New York for a flag change project. In 1990, his silver fern entry came second out of 600 alternative designs in a NZ Listener flag contest to commemorate New Zealand’s sesquicentennial.
So what’s wrong with the current flag? “Amazingly, ours is the only old colonial flag still flying which includes no symbol unique to the country it purports to represent,” said Ansell.
“And that’s because it was designed in Australia to feature Crux Australis (the Southern Cross) by a Briton who never set foot in New Zealand, Albert Hastings Markham, for a former Queensland governor, Sir George Bowen, who was just passing through before going off to run Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.”
“A clique of imperial Freemason politicians officially imposed this junior version of the Australian flag in 1902. Unfortunately fourteen years earlier, our sporting representatives had already chosen the silver fern on a black background as their emblem. And by 1899 the New Zealand Army had followed suit, placing three silver fern badges on the hats and tunics of our First Contingent of soldiers fighting the Boer War.
“After Australia chose its six-star Southern Cross flag, our politicians decided to adopt the four-star Markham variant. The public had no say – especially not the silver fern-wearing troops in South Africa.”
“Silver ferns on black roundels were displayed on vehicles of New Zealand Divisions in both World Wars. And while only one New Zealand flag made it across the sand at ANZAC Cove, the hats, collars and sleeves of our eight thousand soldiers were festooned with around thirty thousand silver ferns.”
“Our design, The Black & Silver, seeks to rectify the mistake of our Anglocentric leaders in unilaterally and undemocratically imposing their idea of a flag, and to immortalise the emblem that our best and bravest wore with pride, together with the unique colour worn by thousands of New Zealand’s highest achievers for the past 127 years.”
As well as adman and wordsmith Ansell, The Black & Silver team consists of branding expert Kenneth Wang (who also designed the winning 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games poster), and design polymath and war historian Grant McLachlan.
“Our campaign is about trying to convince New Zealanders to embrace the emblem and colour that the world already recognizes as our defining symbol – much more so than our anonymous flag,” said McLachlan. “The Black & Silver flag will give us a reason to tell a new national story of aspiration.
“We need the public to know how our current flag emerged and how out of sync it is with military, sporting, corporate, government and other national emblems.”
Ansell sees the flag referendum process as New Zealand’s only opportunity to coordinate its national livery. “Every person is a brand, and so is every country. A brand is what other people think of us. The only choice we have is whether we want to be a bold, daring, standout brand or a timid, mediocre one.
“Like people, sensible countries coordinate their colour schemes. Only seven schizophrenic ones don’t –
India, Malaysia, Venezuela, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. It’s an embarrassing club to belong to, all members projecting one identity on their sports uniforms and another on their flag.
“But fortunately, more and more New Zealand organisations are twigging to the need for consistency. Government departments have already adopted the silver fern on black, and black has recently been picked up as the corporate colour of both Air New Zealand and the New Zealand Herald. A flag with the name symbolism would be a natural progression,” Ansell said.
The Black & Silver campaign team intends to promote its design through a combination of social media, merchandising and mainstream media.
“We intend to have a bit of fun getting our message out there and hopefully others enjoy the ride,” said McLachlan.
