Voters were asked to rank five shortlisted flag alternatives in order of preference, with the referendum asking: “If the New Zealand flag changes, which flag would you prefer?”
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The new design will now go head-to-head against the current flag in a national vote that will be held in March.
Both silver fern flags were designed by Kyle Lockwood, a New Zealander living in Melbourne.
The flag will now go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum in March next year, which will decide whether New Zealand changes its flag for the first time in more than 100 years.
Lockwood’s black and blue flag just edged his red and darker blue flag 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent in a runoff vote.
The decision to choose a new flag has been backed by Mr Key, who has said the current one is too similar to Australia’s and that it is time to remove the Union Jack from the current flag.
The commission sent out 3.1 million voting forms and 48.78 per cent, 1.546 million, were returned.
The country’s Prime Minister said: “It reflects an era of New Zealand’s history that I think has passed”.
“Where were the people marching down the street saying “Change the flag”?” said BJ Clark, the RSA national president. We now have time to consider the two flags side by side and have a good think about which best represents us as a nation now and into the future.
Flag-maker Kyle Lockwood says he wanted to create a flag that would represent all of New Zealand.
A member of the Flag Consideration Panel says the way is now clear for a deeper debate on national identity in the run up to the second flag referendum.
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“I didn’t pick it because I liked it. I chose it because I thought it would be the one that wouldn’t stand a chance against our current flag”, she said.
