New Zealand has been toying with the idea of redesigning its national flag. The new design, officially known as Silver Fern, is the brainchild of architect Kyle Lockwood, who incorporated the black-and-white fern that New Zealand is already famous for onto the same background, with the same stars, keeping most of the old, but ditching rampant colonialism in favor of something that reflects New Zealand itself. The result of the final referendum, to be held from the 3rd to the 24th of March, will be binding.the Overwhelming support for Lockwood’s designs in the first referendum does not necessarily equate to support for a change in flag, with polling both before and after the results of the first vote suggesting that most New Zealanders are in favour of maintaining the status quo.
The flag will now go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum in March, which will decide whether New Zealand changes its flag for the first time in more than 100 years. Both silver fern flags were designed by Kyle Lockwood, a New Zealander living in Melbourne. Under the preferential voting system, the blue and black flag won 50.58 per cent of the vote in the fourth round of voting. The second-placed flag won 49.42 per cent of the vote. The difference between first and second place was 15,000 votes. The number of informal votes was relatively high at 149,747. The Red Peak flag was third, the black and white silver fern fourth, and the koru flag fifth.
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