KEY POINTS:
With the World Cup in full swing, All Blacks flags are taking over New Zealand's streets, flapping from the roofs of vehicles.
But car-mounted flags have a controversial recent history.
During last year's soccer World Cup, car-mounted flags of St George were banned in the borough of Cheltenham, amid fears wayward flags could fly off and hit cyclists in the face. In Hampshire, police were told flapping flags were startling horses and taxi drivers in Nottinghamshire were allowed them only on the driver's side of the car lest a casual passenger impale their eyeball.
But a Land Transport New Zealand spokesperson said they were not aware of anyone injured by rogue All Blacks flags, nor had the NZRFU or Mastercard - who are running the promotion.
A spokesman for Cycling Advocates' Network said he would put one on my bike if I could".
The discrepancy seems to be a matter of design - the English flags are often larger and are usually flimsily attached to a car's aerial.
However, the All Blacks flags - produced on a smaller scale to a standardised template - are firmly attached to car windows.
But are they a long-term concern?
Flags in England were criticised for intensifying the planet's growing climate crisis and driving petrol prices up.
A Manchester University study claimed that a car with two flags travelling about 110km/h would use an extra litre of fuel each hour.
"If half a million cars are flying these flags we could see up to 1.22 million litres of extra fuel burned during the [soccer] World Cup," the study said.
Automobile Association spokesman Mike Noon said the figures were suspect and didn't stack up with their own research.
"If a roof-rack is between 5 and 10 per cent less efficient, then a flag is going to be about .01 per cent. They're not very big flags."
He said any "tiny" increase in fuel costs was a small price to pay.
"I think the true-black supporter is still going to put the flag up rather than worry about fuel costs."
- NZPA
