We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
A fern frond with paired leaflets, shown in white or silver.
Also known as: Silver fern emblem, Ponga frond, New Zealand fern, White fern leaf
The silver fern is New Zealand's most recognised unofficial emblem, worn by national sports teams since the 1880s. It is a real plant — Alsophila dealbata, whose fronds are white underneath — and the emblem takes its colour from that undersurface rather than from convention.
Denotes New Zealand as a widely used national emblem, drawn as a frond of the silver tree fern.
Contexts: Public information
Takes its silver-white colour from the actual plant, whose frond undersides are pale, rather than from an arbitrary heraldic choice.
Contexts: Public information
Has been worn by New Zealand national sporting teams since the 1880s but has never been legally adopted as a national symbol.
Contexts: Public information
A long tapering leaf with many paired pointed leaflets arranged symmetrically along a central straight stem, drawn in white or silver on a dark ground.