Fern favourite: New Zealand chooses a new flag but looks set to keep the old one

New Zealanders have chosen a silver fern on a black-and-blue background as their preferred flag design if the South Pacific nation decides to dump the union flag from its national banner. The design beat four other contenders in a nation-wide referendum, according to preliminary results released by the New Zealand Electoral Commission. Simply titled Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue), the design will go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum in March next year. The flag and an almost identical banner from the same designer, Kyle Lockwood, were clear winners in the five-way race, each receiving more than 550,000 first-choice votes of the 1.5 million ballots cast.

While this is a preliminary result, New Zealanders can now turn their attention to deciding whether to keep the current flag, or replace it

Deputy prime minister Bill English

Prime minister John Key has led the push for reform, saying the existing ensign is a colonial relic that is too easily confused with Australia’s flag. He had previously nominated the winning design as his favourite, describing the silver fern as an instantly recognisable symbol of New Zealand. However, polling indicates the current flag remains on track to beat any contender in next year’s run-off referendum. Formally adopted in 1902, it has the union flag in the upper-left corner with the Southern Cross on a dark blue background.

My father represented New Zealand in underwater hockey and he always wore the silver fern on black –- I always thought it would be on the flag one day. The Union Jack just doesn’t seem right for New Zealand these days.

Designer Kyle Lockwood speaking earlier this year

World new zealand flag