New Zealand, Unmoved by Bionic Kiwi and Starry-Eyed Sheep, Keeps Its Flag
By MICHELLE INNIS

SYDNEY, Australia — The judges weighed 10,292 options — including a flightless kiwi bird firing lasers from its eyes — and the country spent two years thinking about it. But in the end, New Zealanders chose decisively to keep their century-old flag, a blue ensign with Britain’s Union Jack in the upper left corner and the four stars of the Southern Cross in red on the right.

Preliminary results of a nationwide postal vote, which pitted the incumbent against the final challenger — a flag known as the Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) — showed on Thursday that 56.6 percent had voted to keep the existing flag flying, despite the assertion by Prime Minister John Key that it symbolized a colonial era whose time had passed.

“Naturally, I’m a little bit disappointed,” Mr. Key said at a news conference after the result was announced. “I always knew it was going to be a very tough thing to get more than 50 percent of people to vote for change. But the result was much, much closer than people predicted.” A recent poll had found that two-thirds of New Zealanders wanted to keep the existing flag.

Thousands of submitted designs — including the laser-equipped kiwi bird and a woolly sheep with stars for eyes, among less unconventional entries — were reduced to five finalists last year by a panel of 12 judges. Four of the five featured variations on a fern, a plant of symbolic importance in the native Maori culture (and the logo of the national rugby team).

In December, Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) won the first nationwide postal referendum and the support of Mr. Key, who had floated the idea of a new flag in an election campaign speech in March 2014. At the time, Mr. Key said that if his National Party won the elections in September (as it did), he would hold a referendum on the flag.

But the referendum in December asked people which of the five finalists they preferred — not whether they wanted a new flag at all. Mr. Key said that decision was best made in a vote putting the existing flag against a single challenger.

Those opposed to changing the flag argued that soldiers had died fighting for it and that it represented history and tradition. Winston Peters, a lawmaker who leads the New Zealand First Party, noted that recent polling had found the strongest support for the existing flag among people under 29.

“The result shows our history is important, and young people think it is worth defending,” Mr. Peters said. He added that the cost of the referendum, about $17 million, could not be justified.

Georgia Murdoch, a 26-year-old from Sumner, a suburb of Christchurch, said that she had had mixed feelings about the referendum, though she ultimately voted to change the flag.

“I voted for it because I liked the silver fern,” she said. “But I was torn. Both my grandfathers fought in wars under the current flag, so I wasn’t convinced entirely that we should have a new flag.”

Mr. Key had contended that a flag bearing a fern could generate more national pride, given its associations with the rugby team. He also raised a practical concern: New Zealand’s flag is similar to Australia’s, and Mr. Key said that he had sometimes been placed in front of the wrong flag at international events.

Chris Mullane, a 68-year-old Auckland resident who fought in the Vietnam War and was later stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia, agreed that the country needed a more distinctive flag. Few Americans recognize the current one, he said.

“Any flag with the silver fern on it would have shouted ‘New Zealand,’ ” he said.

But like Mr. Key and other Silver Fern supporters, he said that the debate had been good for the country. Mr. Key said it was possible that every child in a New Zealand classroom had discussed the flag and what it means.

About 67 percent of the country’s 3.1 million registered voters cast a ballot in the referendum, according to the electoral commission.

“We voted as a nation, and that’s a good thing,” said Steve Pomeroy, a Silver Fern backer who runs a pub in Christchurch. “It was a good place to start the conversation.”

Still, he said ruefully, “I’m thinking about flying the old flag upside-down.”

銀蕨不敵「英國米」 紐西蘭國旗不換了

紐西蘭廿四日公布國旗公投結果，在舊旗英國米字旗與新旗紐國本土植物銀蕨旗對決中，民眾決定不讓英國米字從他們的國旗消失。公投結果對總理凱伊堪稱一大挫敗，他是這次換旗公投的最大推手，認為舊旗飄揚著英國統治年代的殖民餘味。

選委會公布公投結果指出，百分之五十六點六一的選民主張保留舊旗，百分之四十三點一六選民主張換旗。

紐國現今的米字旗從一九○二年使用至今。凱伊上台後即一再鼓吹換旗，覺得旗中的殖民色彩特別礙眼。但歷時十八月，耗資一千七百五十萬美元後（約台幣五點七億元），選民最後決定維持原旗。這項結果為凱伊招來罵名，指他白忙一場，浪費公帑。

凱伊推文說：「紐西蘭表決保留現今國旗。我鼓勵所有紐西蘭人繼續使用它，擁護它 ，更重要的是以它為傲。」

副總理英格利許表示，有人可能對結果感到失望，但政府啟動了民主過程，給予人民自行選擇機會，而國人已就國旗作出選擇。他形容公投在國內引起正面的熱議，投票率也反映國人對國旗的關切。此次公投有兩百一十二萬人出來投票。

紐西蘭現行國旗以深藍色為底，左上方有一紅白色英國米字，另有代表南十字星的四顆星。

由凱爾．洛克伍德設計的銀蕨旗去年底擊敗另外四旗，參與最後公投。銀蕨旗以黑色和藍色為底，並保留四顆星。

凱伊稱紐西蘭國家橄欖球隊「黑衫軍」使用的銀蕨，令他有「為紐西蘭吶喊」感覺，而公投換旗是一個世代才有一次的機會。

退伍軍人團體認為換旗是否定前人在這面國旗下的犧牲，不尊重前人流血捐驅。 對公投結果，紐西蘭回歸及服役協會說：「我們對感到滿意，但不意外。」

執政八年，凱伊民望仍是居高不下，換旗公投結果，讓反對黨逮著機會痛批，有人稱換旗是凱伊的「寵物計畫」，又稱換旗讓國家分裂，凱伊搞個人聖戰。

綠黨黨魁之一杜里認為凱伊護新旗心切，只顧宣傳自己喜歡的新旗設計，即使很多紐西蘭人支持換旗，因凱伊干預，決定支持舊旗。綠黨的哈米爾說，他就是因此投票給現有國旗。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/world/asia/new-zealand-flag-vote.html

Video：New Zealand Decides to Keep Its Flag
http://nyti.ms/1XR6woL

2016-03-25．聯合報．A17．國際．編譯王麗娟