“I do think it is time we put a symbol on the flagpole that speaks more of the country we are, rather than where we’ve come from”, Bob Parker, the former Christchurch mayor, told the New Zealand Herald.
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The silver fern, only introduced on the new design, represents a native plant to New Zealand which appears on the country’s one dollar coin and various sports team logos.
The vote had been pushed for by Prime Minister John Key, who was an eager proponent of change.
“I’m not a big fan of becoming a republic, so that would probably be the next juncture where you could change the flag, but in the end that’s for future governments and future prime ministers to decide”.
Key acknowledged the referendum result in a Twitter post, saying, “New Zealand has voted to retain our current flag”.
They also added the flag was too similar to Australia’s, as the only difference between the two is the colour and number of Southern Cross stars.
“For me personally I’ll now be supporting the current New Zealand flag”.
Over two million people had their say in the second binding referendum on the flag, but the result – announced on Thursday night – was much closer than polls had predicted.
Peters said the vote to keep the current flag was seen as a vote of no confidence in the entire process.
“Obviously I’m a bit disappointed there was no change but almost a million people voted for change. I encourage all NZers to use it, embrace it and, more importantly, be proud of it”, he tweeted.
This whole process was kicked off back in September when New Zealand was asked to chose from five options in a referendum on the nation’s flag.
His message to the 43% of Kiwis who voted for change is to now get behind the current flag.
Mr Little said at every stage of the process John Key screwed the scrum in favour of his flag and made his desire for a fern flag known from the start.
The quest to find a new flag began with the country crowd-sourcing new designs.
Some supporters of the silver fern said the result was “inconclusive”. Final results will be released by the Electoral Commission on Wednesday 30 March.
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The New Zealand and Tino Rangatiratanga flags flying in Wellington.
