{"id":6310,"date":"2015-12-16T17:19:54","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T17:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=6310"},"modified":"2015-12-16T17:19:54","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T17:19:54","slug":"new-zealand-chooses-alternative-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/new-zealand-chooses-alternative-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand chooses alternative flag"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/a>The British Union Jack once symbolized the reach of a powerful empire \u2014 but it may need to yield soon to a delicate silver fern. At least on New Zealand\u2019s flag.
\nNew 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.
\nThe 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.
\nPeople 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.
\nIn 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.
\nResults announced on Tuesday showed that Lockwood\u2019s black and blue flag just edged his red and darker blue flag 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent in a runoff postal vote. Even the designer himself found it a tough choice.
\n\u201cI agonized over the two on my voting form,\u201d Lockwood said. \u201cFor a couple of weeks, I\u2019d walk past it and think, \u2018Which one?\u2019 I like them both equally.\u201d
\nLockwood, who was born in New Zealand\u2019s capital, Wellington, and now lives in Australia, said he didn\u2019t want to say which one he gave his top vote.
\nHis winning design has similarities to the current flag but ditches the Union Jack, or Union Flag, in favor of the fern, which has become a national symbol and is worn by many of New Zealand\u2019s sports teams, including the beloved All Blacks rugby team.
\nThose who want to change the current flag say it\u2019s too similar to Australia\u2019s and references a colonial past that it\u2019s time to leave behind. But opinion polls taken before the result was announced on Tuesday indicated a majority favored keeping the existing flag. Many don\u2019t see the need for change or view the process as an expensive stunt by Prime Minister John Key, who opponents say is trying to forge a legacy or distract from other issues.
\nThe Returned and Services Association, which represents New Zealand\u2019s war veterans, is opposed to change, saying soldiers pledged allegiance to the current flag.
\n\u201cWhere were the people marching down the street saying \u2018Change the flag\u2019?\u201d said BJ Clark, the RSA\u2019s national president. \u201cIf a majority had wanted it, then maybe we could understand it.\u201d
\nThose favoring Lockwood\u2019s design hope that opinions will change before March as the debate focuses in on the two flags.
\nClark said people should vote with their heart and accept the result. \u201cThe wonderful thing is that those people who served, fought for the country to be able to have their opinion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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