Capt A i thought the first vote was should we change the flag?

the response was NO, but key still chased it hence what you said.

anyway its the best thing that could of happened, the 100th birthday for all those poor
people who died for this country and the commonwealth...

your a looser monKEY...

As a nation we don't seem to embrace change very readily and that's at odds with our entrepreneurial/DIY DNA in many ways. 

It was about 1 man's dream.

There is alot of History behind the current Nz flag.
It stands proudly engraved upon our fallen war dead all over the world.
To change something so unique that symbolized who we are for 200 years for what ?

I am not sure the flag is on the gravestones of our fallen soldiers, I think it is a fern isn't it?
That is what I have seen in doccos, and what Key said that he has seen on his visits to war grave sites. Of course, if they are flying flags as well, then our flag, naturally, will be flown, but on the stones themselves, it's a fern I think.
If we were to change, I do agree with key though, we need the fern there, more so than the southern cross I think, but it should have been silver. Silver though, hmmmm, wouldn't that be hard to get on a flag? More often than not it'd look grey I suspect, silver being shiny, whereas colours for flags, being fabric, need to be matte.
Personally, I'd like something that shows NZ....blue, green and black, maybe with the sthn cross in the black. Have the colours in equal size bands running obliquely across the flag, the blue in the bottom right corner for the sea, then green from top right corner to bottom left corner signifying our land, and black in the top left corner, with the stars in that.
But then....no fern!
Tough ask getting everyone's ideas on a flag just right, eh.

1Daz wrote: I don't get the complaining about the cost. Yes it sounds like a lot of money but it's the cost of the referendum, The cost of democracy. Imagine if we didn't get a say, or the freedom to complain.

God, don't start with the TPPA thing here, or the whole thread will go pear shaped.
Funny thing that here the TPPA is held to be a capitalist US/global corporate scheme to oppress and repress smaller states, yet in the US it is seen as a Global Socialist plot to destroy the US economy.
Hey ho, who knows. At least we still have our flag. Better the Union Jack in the corner than the Stars and Stripes. Or the Hammer and Sickle.

" N.Z will get used to the black and blue flag design"  John Key--Radio live  December 14 2015.
Well time has shown that they didnt get used to it.
Our flag featuring the union jack represents the British crown ,the other  signing party to the founding document of this country-- The Treaty of Waitangi. Take away the crown as in changing the flag and a very big gap would have appeared.
Surely the flag debate -if it could be called that was a distraction from real issues facing N.Z
We are no longer one society. ,the wealth gap is rapidly widening, many working people are struggling
dairy farmers and exporters also struggling. Our land and water is being destroyed. We now have some of the most polluted rivers in the world. Our inshore fisheries are being trashed also.
These are real issues that will have to be faced.
And what really is a New zealander. Used to be one people one country. No anymore.
Fill out any govt form and it is clear that there is no such thing as a newzealander.
It is now a European New zealander  or Maori New zealander , or pacific Newzealander,or Asian New zealander ,or Middle Eastern/latin American/african New Zealander. Or other. How on earth did we go down this road without noticing.
How does a new flag represent all these groups.
Money wasted. If our govt had a heart it would not have spent money like that with so many pressing issues.
There will be a time when we do have a new flag. It is all about timing,and this is not the time.
A new flag means new identity. What exactly is our identity .? Rapidly changing times both here and internationally is not the time to do this.
Australia is not wanting a new flag. So why us. This was a government incentive. People didnt ask for a new flag. So what was the agenda we dont know about.
And for those that think we are one of the last countries to have the union jack on our flag. Think again.
They are. Australia,Hawaii,British Antarctic territory ,Falkland Islands,Cook Islands,St Helena,Ascension Islands,Tuvalu,Fiji,  Bremuda, Turks & Caicos, Nuie, British Virgin Islands,Cayman Islands, Anguilla, British indian ocean terriotory, Montserrat,Pitcairn Island,Tristan da cuna ,South Georgia.

cirrus wrote: And for those that think we are one of the last countries to have the union jack on our flag. Think again. They are. Australia,Hawaii,British Antarctic territory ,Falkland Islands,Cook Islands,St Helena,Ascension Islands,Tuvalu,Fiji,  Bremuda, Turks & Caicos, Nuie, British Virgin Islands,Cayman Islands, Anguilla, British indian ocean terriotory, Montserrat,Pitcairn Island,Tristan da cuna ,South Georgia.

How many of those aren't even countries?

People got to exercise their democtric right in choosing between flags. Was the cost high, in comparrison to the fact that thousands died so we can live in a democtratic society, no it wasn't. I didn't like the new flag design in anyway shape or form. Had there been a professional flag designer who was tasked with designing a flag which represented our history, present and future instead of a paint by numbers silver fern, I would have been favored it more.

Govt pushed the new flag at every opportunity . They certainly didnt push the keeping of the existing flag.

Debate--their was no debate.

The people didnt demand from the govt we have a new flag.

Didnt hear of protests or petitions demanding a new flag.

It was from the government ,for the government ,by the government.
Why.?