New Zealand PM calls for referendum on new flag

September 22, 2014 08:13 am | Updated November 17, 2021 04:12 am IST - Wellington

New Zealand's National Party leader John Key and Prime Minister-elect celebrates a landslide victory in Auckland, September 20, 2014.

New Zealand's National Party leader John Key and Prime Minister-elect celebrates a landslide victory in Auckland, September 20, 2014.

New Zealand’s newly re-elected Prime Minister, John Key, said Monday he wanted to hold a referendum next year on changing the country’s flag, the latest development in a long-running debate over the national symbol.

The New Zealand flag features the British flag, the Union Jack, in one corner and has four stars representing the Southern Cross constellation on a royal blue background.

“I’m obviously a big supporter of the change. I think there are a lot of strong arguments in favour of the change,” Mr. Key, who was elected for a third term over the weekend, told radio station RadioLive.

He had previously said his preference is for a flag with a silver fern on a black background, a similar design to that worn on the shirts of sports players representing the country, including the All Blacks rugby team.

In March, Mr. Key said the current flag symbolised a colonial and post-colonial era whose time had passed.

“We want a design that says New Zealand, whether it’s stitched on a Kiwi traveller’s backpack outside a bar in Croatia, on a flagpole outside the United Nations or standing in a Wellington southerly on top of the Beehive [which houses government offices] every working day,” he said at the time.

Mr. Key has distanced any change in the flag from moves towards the country becoming a republic, saying New Zealand retained strong links to the British monarchy.

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