New Zealanders reject new flag

New Zealand has voted to keep its current flag by a margin of 57% to 43% in a nationwide poll that ended yesterday.

More than 2m people voted in the ballot to decide whether to keep the Union Jack in their flag or replace it with a silver fern.

The current flag has been the national symbol since 1902. It was up against a new design that was winnowed from more than 10,000 entries submitted by the public.

Those advocating change argued the flag was a relic of the nation’s colonial past and too similar to Australia’s flag. But the alternative design failed to gain the momentum it needed to win.

The vote had been orchestrated by prime minister John Key, who was an eager proponent of change.

In the end, the vote represented a rare political defeat for Mr Key, who has won three straight elections and led the country for eight years.

“Naturally I’m a little bit disappointed the flag didn’t change tonight,” said Mr Key.

He said, however, that every schoolchild had become involved in the debate, which had been good for the nation. He said he was proud to see so many flags flying over recent weeks and would now support the current flag even though it wasn’t his first choice.

Opposition leader Andrew Little said the next time the flag issue will be discussed will likely be after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II dies, as part of broader debate about the nation’s constitution, including whether it should become a republic.

Turnout in the postal ballot was 67%, with 2.1m votes cast from the country’s 3.2m registered voters. The official result will be announced next week.