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New Zealand

And the most important election of 2016 will be…

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silverfern
In one of 2016’s more whimsical votes, New Zealanders will choose whether to change its flag to this design, featuring both the silver fern and the Southern Cross constellation. (Kyle Lockwood)

Though there’s a delightful array of global elections coming in 2016, the most important will most certainly not be New Zealand’s final referendum on changing its flag. new zealand icon

Nevertheless, it might well be the most fun.

For the past month, New Zealand’s voters have been asked to choose from among five options (narrowed down from a larger finalist field of 40 designs) in a postal-based referendum that began on November 20 and ended on December 11. Less than 50% of eligible voters took part in the voting.

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RELATED: Will New Zealand get a new flag later this year?

RELATED: Four finalists emerge in New Zealand flag referendum

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The winner, by a very narrow margin, was a one of three designs to feature the silver fern, a symbol that, increasingly since the end of the 19th century, has become associated with New Zealand — on its coins and its coat of arms, on the logo of its national football team. The silver fern, cyathea dealbata, is a species endemic to New Zealand.

The ubiquity of the silver fern in three of the original four finalists drew so much criticism from anti-fern proponents that the flag panel actually added a fifth design, a stylized ‘red peak’ to the list of choices (though like the other two designs, it polled far behind in single digits). Continue reading And the most important election of 2016 will be… →

New Zealand

Four finalists emerge in New Zealand flag referendum

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Four-promo

New Zealand moved one step closer on Monday to getting a new flag — when the four finalists in its contest to design a new flag were announced.new zealand icon

Though it’s perhaps not the most pressing policy issue for New Zealand, the contest to determine whether to replace New Zealand’s flag has attracted an international following. A special commission, choosing from among 40 longlisted finalists, narrowed the selection to just four.

New Zealand’s voters, between November 20 and December 11, will rank the four finalists. Later in 2016, voters will choose between the current flag and the winner of this winter’s vote to determine the best challenger. For a country as wealthy as New Zealand, it’s a sign of the country’s prosperity that it can spend $25.7 million on a protracted debate about whether to change its national flag.

Many citizens, however, seem unimpressed by the debate or even annoyed with prime minister John Key for pushing the choice. Key, the leader of the conservative National Party, and reelected in September 2014 to a third term, actually argues that changing New Zealand’s flag, which currently features the British Union Jack and the ‘southern cross’ constellation (just like Australia’s, which has caused some confusion over the years) would boost New Zealand’s international recognition, especially if the flag incorporates the silver fern, which has in recent decades become the country’s national symbol.

Critics also argue that the country has more important matters at hand — from the ongoing efforts to rebuild Christchurch, New Zealand’s second city, after a devastating 2011 earthquake to the issues of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.

Nevertheless, the fight over a new flag has entered a new crucial phase — one in which many Kiwis believe that none of the panel’s finalists are particularly great. Three of the finalists incorporate the silver fern, and two of them also retain New Zealand’s red southern cross. The fourth and final option incorporates a koru, a spiral shape based on a coiled silver fern that is an important shape in the culture of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori.

Black-and-white-fern-primary Silver-fern-red-white-and-blue Silver-fern-black-white-and-blue Koru-black-primary