New Zealanders pick silver fern design as possible new flag

New Zealand voters have chosen a design with a silver fern on a black and blue background with four red stars representing the Southern Cross as a possible new national flag, according to the final results of a recent referendum released Tuesday by the New Zealand government.

The chosen design will compete against the current flag in the second of two national referenda on changing the country’s national flag, scheduled next March.

In the first referendum held for three weeks from November 10, voters picked their choice from five designs that had been selected from about 10,000 entries submitted from the public.

READ MORE: Goodbye Union Jack: Here are the 40 potential designs for New Zealand’s new flag

The winner closely defeated an almost identical design with some different colours – the silver fern on a red and slightly darker blue background with the four red stars.

Many supporters of a flag change favour the symbol of the silver fern, a plant endemic to New Zealand and commonly associated with the country both domestically and overseas.

The silver fern is already used for various official purposes including on the New Zealand coat of arms and on the country’s one dollar coin. It is popularly used by its many sporting teams, notably the All Blacks national men’s rugby union team.

Prime Minister John Key, who considers the current national flag as representing New Zealand’s British colonial past and not its modern identity, has called for a change.