WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – The British Union Jack once symbolized the reach of a powerful empire – but it may need to yield soon to a delicate silver fern. At least on New Zealand’s flag.
New Zealand on Tuesday revealed the new flag design chosen by the public to be put up as a challenger to the current flag in a March vote.
The question of whether to change a national symbol that has endured for more than a century and harks back to a colonial past has raised plenty of passion, and skepticism, in this nation of 4.6 million.
People submitted more than 10,000 potential new flag designs, including bizarre ones like a kiwi bird shooting a green laser beam from its eye and a stick drawing of a deranged cat.
In the end, it came down to two flags by architectural designer Kyle Lockwood that featured the same design of a silver fern and four red stars, but with different background colors.