<P> The National Flag can only (officially) be used as a vehicle flag by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, NZ Government Ministers, NZ Ambassadors, and NZ High Commissioners . No distinguishing defacement or fringing of the flag is used . </P> <P> Debate on keeping or changing the New Zealand flag started before May 1973, when a remit to change the flag was voted down by the Labour Party at their national conference . In November 1979 Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet suggested that the design of the flag should be changed, and sought an artist to design a new flag with a silver fern on the fly, but the proposal attracted little support . In 1998 Prime Minister Jenny Shipley backed Cultural Affairs Minister Marie Hasler's call for the flag to be changed . Shipley, along with the New Zealand Tourism Board, backed the quasi-national silver fern flag, using a white silver fern on a black background as a possible alternative flag, along the lines of the Canadian Maple Leaf flag . On 5 August 2010 Labour list MP Charles Chauvel introduced a member's bill for a consultative commission followed by a referendum on the New Zealand flag . </P> <P> On 11 March 2014, Prime Minister John Key announced in a speech his intention to hold a referendum, during the next parliamentary term, on adopting a new flag . Following National's re-election the details of the two referendums were announced . The first referendum was set for November 2015 allowing voters to decide on a preferred design from five choices . The second referendum would see the preferred design voted on against the current flag in March 2016 . </P> <P> Under the New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill, in the event that the flag were to change, the current flag (described as the "1902 flag") of New Zealand may continue to be used, and is "recognised as a flag of historical significance ." Official documents depicting the current flag, such as drivers' licences, would continue to be valid and would be replaced through matter of course (e.g., driver licence renewals). </P>

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