A Breakdown Of The Pens Used By World Leaders!

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With more and more people becoming interested in the pens that world leaders use to sign the laws and trade agreements that we all live by, we have noticed an increase in the number of people reaching out to ask what pens are used used by world leaders. Due to so many people reaching out to ask, we have decided to publish this dedicated article going over the pens use by the leaders of various countries to try and help our readers get answers.

Please note, many leaders will use a pen brand from their own country for official engagement but use another pen for personal writing or when behind the camera. Depending on the specific situation, the pen used may be a pen of convenience rather than a pen of choice for larger global agreements where there are a large number of co-signers too.

In addition to this, we are only focusing in on the pens most frequently seen by the various world leaders featured in our article. We will go into specifics for various world leaders in their relevant section below but some leaders do tend to use a range of different pens depending on the situation.

Pens Used By World Leaders

What Pen Does The President Of The United States Use?

The president of the United States tends to use a custom Cross Townsend that has that particular presidents signature on it as well as the presidential seal. Using a Cross Townsend has been the tradition for both sitting and former US presidents for decades now due to cross previously having been the go to pen brand situated in the USA.

That said though, although presidents do tend to still use a Cross Townsend pen for signing official documentation, the quality of the pen has gone downhill since production was moved to China in the early 2010’s. We go into this in more detail in our article going over if Cross pens are worth their price tag but their reputation amongst the community has definatley been declining over the last few decades.

It does seem that more recent US presidents do only use the Cross Townsend when the cameras are around though. Although we go into this in much more detail in our article on the pens that Obama used, he would use the Cross Townsend in front of the cameras but often use a Montblanc 149 behind closed doors. He has also confirmed that he wrote the majority of the drafts for his book a land promised using a $3 uni-ball vision elite due to liking the writing experience so much.

What Pen Does The Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom Use?

The sitting prime minister of the United Kingdom has usually used a Parker Duofold for signing official documentation since the early 1960’s. Although not confirmed by Downing Street, it is believed that this is to Queen Elizabeth II giving Parker Pens a royal warrant to supply the Royal Family with pens back in 1962. Although production of Parker Pens has since moved from England to France, the warrant is still in place with it being the reason that Parker Pens are known to be the primary pen choice of the royal family.

That said though, the use of the Parker Duofold does tend to only be for the signing of official paperwork with both David Cameron and Theresa May being seen using a $2 Pilot V-Pen on a regular basis for general use. We would guess that this is simply due to Pilot holding the supply contract for both the Houses Of Parlement as well as the offices in Downing Street making the Pilot V-pen an easier option.

Boris Johnson on the other hand is somewhat of a penthusiast himself and has been seen using a Parker Duofold for signing official documentation while using a wide range of pens for non-official work. He has also confirmed that he owns two, mint condition Churchill pens worth over £1000 in his personal collection while also having been seen using a Montblanc 149 amongst others.

What Pen Does The Queen Of England Use?

Queen Elizabeth II seems to prefer a Parker 51 fountain pen for both official documents and general writing with her choice often surprising many people due to the pen usually costing between £50 and £100 for the entry-level model. It would make sense that the queen prefers to use a Parker Pen as she granted them her royal warrant back in the 1960’s but her family does seem to be fans of the bran and we go into it in more detail in this article.

Although the royal family’s fondness of using Parker Pens was thought to be more of a patriotic stance due to Parker Pens being made in England back when the queen granted them her royal warrant, production was moved to France in 2011. Since then, the queen and other members of the royal family have been seen to use various models from the Parker Pen range on a regular basis though.

What Pen Does The Prime Minister Of The Australia Use?

There does not seem to be any consistency with the pens used by sitting Australian prime ministers but former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was known to be a penthusiast and have a range of premium fountain pens in his personal collection. From photographs and videos it does seem that his preferred pen of choice for signing official documentation was the Montblanc Friedrich Schiller that tends to retail at upwards of $1000.

The majority of other Australian prime ministers have also been seen using a Montblanc fountain pen on multiple occasions too when signing official documentation. We would guess that this is simply down to the prestige of the Montblanc brand though rather than there being any other reason behind it.

What Pen Does The Prime Minister Of The Canada Use?

Justin Trudeau as well as various other Canadian prime ministers have been seen using a wide range of pens when signing official documentation. Popular pen brands include Montblanc, Cross, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot, and Sailor but it is unclear if these are from personal collections or if they have been presented to sitting Canadian prime ministers over the years and a collection having built up.

What Pen Does The President And Prime Minister Of The Ireland Use?

Both the president and the prime minister of Ireland have been photographed using various pens from a wide range of price brackets over the years. Options have ranged from the $2 Pilot G2 all the way up to the Montblanc 149 worth over $1000. This inconsistency of the pen model used by the Irish president and prime ministers over the years seems to show a consistency that they don’t care about what pen they use, they just want their bills complete as soon as possible.

What Pen Does The Prime Minister Of The New Zealand Use?

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was gifted a Pelikan Souverän fountain pen (believed to be the m800 but not confirmed) by the president of Germany as a diplomatic gift and she seems to have really taken to the pen. She has been photographed using her Pelikan pen multiple times now and we can see why as our regular readers will know we are huge fans of the Pelikan fountain pen range.

Although Montblanc does tend to get the majority of the press and have the prestige around their branding, the Pelikan Souverän range has a number of models within it that offer a similar if not better performance than their Montblanc counterparts. The Pelikan pen models tend to be between ten and twenty percent cheaper than their Montblanc alternatives so if you do just want the best possible writing experience then consider a Pelikan pen.

What Pen Does The Prime Minister Of India Use?

Prime ministers of India seem to be large fans of premium price point pens with PM Modi often being seen with a Montblanc 149 worth over $1000 when signing official documents. Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh has also been seen to use a Cross Peerless worth between $350 and $500 when signing official documents too.

What Pen Does The President And Prime Minister Of France Use?

Both the president and prime minister of France do seem to prefer to use a French pen brand for both official paperwork and for general use. Both Emmanuel Macron and Jean Castex have been seen using Parkers and Watermans on multiple occasions with Waterman seeming like the more popular option.

Emmanuel Macron has been seen to use various pens from the Waterman range from the Waterman Carene starting at around $200 to the Waterman Exception starting at $400. Both Macron and Castex have also been seen to use much cheaper pens for general note taking though on multiple occasions.

What Pen Does The Chancellor Of Germany Use?

Angela Merkel has been seen to use a Lamy 2000 various pens from the Pelikan Souverän range as well as the Montblanc 149 when signing official documents. It is unclear if this is due to personal preference for the writing experiences delivered by these pens or if it is due to Lamy and Pelikan being German brands and Montblanc having strong ties with Germany.

Conclusion

That brings our article going over the various pens used by world leaders to a close. As you can see, many of the leaders featured in our article tend to use expensive pens when actually signing official documents but will often use a much cheaper pen for general use. If you are thinking of adding a premium pen to your stationery collection then we would highly recommend that you consider anything from the Pelikan Souverän range as they offer excellent performance while being much cheaper than their Montblanc alternative.