TIME New Zealand

New Zealand Votes to Keep Its Current Flag

The current New Zealand flag, right, flutters next to the proposed new flag in Wellington, New Zealand, March 4, 2016.
Marty Melville—AFP/Getty Images The current New Zealand flag, right, flutters next to the proposed new flag in Wellington, New Zealand, March 4, 2016.

The proposed silver fern won't replace the current design

New Zealanders voted to keep the country’s existing flag on Thursday.

More than 2 million voters, nearly half the country’s population, cast their decision in the second referendum, according to the Guardian. The original flag, which features the U.K.’s Union Jack, received 56% of the vote to the new design’s 43%.

The vote concluded a 10-month process that is reported to have cost $26 million dollars and inspired more than 10,000 design submissions, including one of a laser-eyed kiwi. In the end, Kyle Lockwood’s proposal featuring a silver fern, was picked to go head-to-head with the classic.

[Guardian]

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