New Zealand flag debate

New Zealand flag debate

The national flag of New Zealand is a defaced Blue Ensign with four stars representing the Southern Cross.

New Zealand has a history of debate over whether the national flag should be changed. For several decades, alternative designs have been proposed with varying degrees of support. There is no consensus among proponents of changing the flag as to which design should replace the flag. Unlike in Australia, the flag debate in New Zealand is independent of any debate on a republic.

A two-stage binding referendum on a flag change is planned to take place in 2015 and 2016, with alternative flag options yet to be decided.

Arguments

Arguments for change

Proponents for change argue that:

• The national flag is too similar to the flag of Australia and the two are often confused. In 1984, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke was greeted by New Zealand flags when visiting Ottawa.
• As a defaced Blue Ensign, the national flag alludes to New Zealand being a colony or sub-part of the United Kingdom.
• The national flag ignores New Zealand's Māori heritage and other ethnic groups (although the national coat of arms does not).

Arguments against change

Opponents to change argue that:

• The national flag has "stood the test of time".
• The national flag represents New Zealand's historically strong ties to the United Kingdom; and the history of the country as a part of the British Empire and location in the southern hemisphere.
• Proposals focus too much on Māori and Pacific designs when most of New Zealand's heritage was Anglo-Saxon and Celtic.
• Generations of New Zealanders have fought and died under it.

History of debate

1970s

Debate on keeping or changing the New Zealand Flag started before May 1973, when a remit to change the flag was voted down by the Labour Party at their national conference. In November 1979 the Minister of Internal Affairs, Allan Highet, suggested that the design of the flag should be changed, and sought an artist to design a new flag with a silver fern on the fly. The proposal attracted little support.

1980s

In 1988, Minister of Foreign Affairs Russell Marshall made a call for a flag change, which also had little effect.

The New Zealand Listener magazine held a flag design contest in 1989, attracting nearly 600 entries. Out of the seven semi-finalists, which included the national flag and the United Tribes Flag, the national flag won with a minority vote of 45.6%.

1990s

In February 1992 the former Minister of Maori Affairs, Matiu Rata, called for a flag change "to re-establish our national identity".

In 1998, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley backed Cultural Affairs Minister Marie Hasler's call for the flag to be changed. Shipley, along with the New Zealand Tourism Board, supported the quasi-national silver fern flag, using a white silver fern on a black background, along the lines of the Canadian maple leaf flag.

Both of these events were met with opposition from the Returned Services' Association.

2000s

In 2004, the NZ Flag.com Trust was founded by Lloyd Morrison with the aim of bringing about a non-binding referendum on the subject. Under New Zealand law, a referendum may be held on any issue if 10% of electors sign a petition which is presented to Parliament. The Trust launched their petition for such a referendum in 2005. Their campaign used a stylised silver fern flag designed by Cameron Sanders.

In response to the petition, the New Zealand Flag Institute was founded to oppose the referendum campaign and promote the current flag, as well as to offer a more scholarly view of the flag. The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association (RNZRSA), the New Zealand organisation for war veterans, did not openly back the current flag at its annual conference, passing a remit that "It is the view of RNZRSA that any change to the New Zealand Flag should be solely the prerogative of the people of New Zealand as determined by a substantial majority of electors in a referendum. It is also the Association's view that this matter should be taken out of the political arena."

The petition attracted 100,000 signatures out of the required approximately 270,000 and was withdrawn in July 2005, well before the general election in September. The NZ Flag.com Trust cited public apathy to change as the main reason for withdrawing the petition.

2010s

In 2012, the NZTA flew the Tino Rangatiratanga flag alongside the New Zealand flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day.

On 5 August 2010, Labour list MP Charles Chauvel introduced a members Bill for a consultative commission followed by a referendum on the New Zealand flag.

In January 2014, Prime Minister John Key floated the idea of a referendum on a new flag at the 2014 general election.The proposal was met with mixed response.

Later in March, Key announced that New Zealand would hold a referendum within the next three years asking whether or not to change the flag design should the National party be re-elected for a third term. Following National's re-election the details of the referendum were announced.

Referenda

A two-stage binding referendum is planned to take place in 2015 and 2016, after public consultation and input. The process is expected to cost $25.7 million.

Pre-referenda process

Shortly after announcing the referendum, party leaders were invited to a Cross-Party Group. So far the group includes Bill English, David Seymour and Peter Dunne. The purpose of the Cross-Party Group is to review draft legislation allowing for the referenda to take place, and to nominate candidates for a Flag Consideration Panel by mid February 2015.

The Flag Consideration Panel will be a separate group of "respected New Zealanders" with representative age, regional, gender and ethnic demographics. Their purpose will be to publicise the process, seek flag submissions and suggestions from the public, and to decide on a final shortlist of 3-4 suitable options for the first referendum. Public consultation is expected to take place between May and August 2015.

First stage

The first referendum is planned to be held in November or December 2015. It will ask the public to choose from a list of options including the Flag Consideration Panel's shortlist and the current flag. The voting process may be preferential or first past the post, pending decision from the Cross-Party Group.

Second stage

The second referendum is planned for April 2016. It will be a run-off between the preferred alternative design from the first referendum and the current flag. The Cross-Party Group may decide to cancel the second referendum in the event that a single design gains over 50% of votes in the first referendum.

Results and implications

The referenda results are legally binding. However, upon event of a flag change, the current flag will still be legal to fly and will only be replaced once worn out. This result would also not change the coat of arms or national Māori flag, nor the police and fire service flags which are based on the current flag.

Opinion polling

A poll of public opinion 2009 suggested that 25% supported changing the design of the flag, whilst 62% were opposed.

Around the same time, the New Zealand Herald surveyed various political party leaders and the twenty two members of the Order of New Zealand, with the results showing an even split.

In July 2013, a poll by TV3's The Vote program found 39% of respondents would keep the flag, 61% would change it.

Although many New Zealanders hold an opinion on whether the flag should be changed or not, an opinion poll in February 2014 found that only two per cent of New Zealanders thought that changing the flag was an important issue.

Regarding actually changing the flag, an opinion poll in February 2014 found that 72% of New Zealanders wanted to retain the current flag.

Proposals

Silver fern flag

Main article: Silver fern flag

The silver fern flag

The silver fern flag is a popular unofficial flag of New Zealand. The silver fern itself is a quasi-national emblem with current and historic usage including:

• The coat of arms of New Zealand
• The New Zealand one-dollar coin
• The Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national netball team
• The All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team
• New Zealand Army Second Division military insignia
• New Zealand military insignia during the South African War (1899–1902)
• All tombstones of fallen New Zealand soldiers maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission contain a silver fern symbol
• New Zealand athletes competing in the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics
• The NZ Flag.com Trust in their 2005 campaign

The proposal of replacing the national flag of New Zealand with the silver fern flag has been supported by Cultural Affairs Minister Marie Hasler, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and the New Zealand Tourism Board in 1998, and current Prime Minister John Key in 2010.

However, the New Zealand Flag Institute criticises the silver fern as the logo of some of New Zealand's sporting teams rather than the country itself.

Others

Image	Designer	Date	Notes
	James Busby	1834	The United Tribes Flag was the national flag of New Zealand when it first declared independence in 1835, until the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
	Friedensreich Hundertwasser	1983	The koru flag, represents an uncurling fern frond in the form of a stylised koru, a traditional Māori carving pattern. This flag is occasionally seen around the country.
	James Dignan	2002	This proposal was displayed in the New Zealand Herald on 9 May 2002, at the time of the centenary of the current flag. It combines elements from the national flag, the Tino rangatiratanga flag and the silver fern flag. This combination looked to links with both the United Kingdom and Polynesia.
	Kyle Lockwood	2004	This proposal won a Wellington newspaper flag competition in July 2004 and appeared on TV3 in 2005 after winning a poll which included the present national flag. The fern represents the people of New Zealand and the Southern Cross represents the location of New Zealand. The blue represents the ocean, the red represents the Māori and wartime sacrifices, and white represents the "land of the long white cloud" epithet.
	Helen Clark	2007	Helen Clark made her proposal while Prime Minister of New Zealand. She said that deleting the Union Jack from the New Zealand flag was a possibility if people wanted to redesign the flag, leaving it as a "rather attractive Southern Cross."

See also

• Australian flag debate
• Great Canadian Flag Debate
• Northern Ireland flags issue

External links

Neutral

• NZHistory - Calls for a New Flag

For change

• NZFlag.com Trust
• Silver Fern Flag website
• No Flag New Zealand

Against change

• NZ Flag Institute