Factory workers Garth Price and Andrew Smith hang old and new designs of the national flag of New Zealand at a factory in Auckland on Nov. 24, 2015.
RAFAEL BEN-ARI/REUTERS
Some might see New Zealanders' rejection of a new flag as a repudiation of modernity itself, a decision by a dyed-in-the-wool generation to keep grasping a worn yoke to a distant colonial past.
But New Zealand youth were among the most energetic supporters of the existing standard, with its Union Jack set in a corner beside the four stars of the Southern Cross. As votes were counted in a Thursday referendum where nearly 57 per cent of voters opted for the old design, the youngest electoral areas rejected change.
"The split was 70-30 amongst those younger age ranges," said David Moger, chief executive of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, the country's veterans organization.
When petitions for a flag referendum began to emerge in New Zealand in 2005, many thought "the split would be the old crustys wanting to hang onto the past and the new thrusting young New Zealanders wanting the change. But actually, the young thrusting New Zealanders, on what we've been able see so far, are very firmly behind our current flag," said Mr. Moger, a strong advocate for the status quo, in an interview.
Why?
The alternative designed New Zealand flag flies on a building in the central business district in Wellington on March 24, 2016.
MARTY MELVILLE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
"When you look at everything that is changing in the world – and we've just had the horrific atrocities in Brussels this week – having something that anchors you as a nation is important," Mr. Moger said.
New Zealand's flag debate held some resonance for Canada, which shares a colonial history but a very different approach to its national icon. The Liberal government of Lester B. Pearson brought in the maple leaf in 1964, with a vote in Oarliament led by a prime minister who wanted an identity distinct from that of the U.K.
New Zealanders took a more democratic path, putting the question to a national vote. In the end, they opted to embrace the visual link with their colonial past.
There's value, Mr. Moger said, in keeping the country under the same flag that waved over its troops in the First World War, when nearly one in 10 New Zealanders went overseas to fight alongside Britain (twice Canada's proportion).
"We've fought a huge number of military campaigns and lost 32,000 New Zealanders under that flag. We've won three Rugby World Cups under that flag," he said.
"We're an innovative nation that's creating its own history. But we look at our flag and say, there's a heck of a lot happened under that flag. It's a strong flag," Mr. Moger said.
New Zealand adopted its flag in 1902, at a time when each of its people also held British citizenship. It has moved a great distance from those roots. More than a quarter of New Zealanders today are foreign-born, compared with 20.6 per cent in Canada. (New Zealand's indigenous Maori occupy a percentage of the population three times higher than that of Canada's aboriginal people.)
But New Zealanders have not often been a nation given to flag-waving. If nothing else, the debate and referendum seem to have changed that, said Mr. Moger, who saw a rise in national colours on display as he drove thousands of kilometres across the country to argue against change.
He wouldn't mind if it stays that way, even if everything changes – technology, the economy, the human landscape of a country in the midst of an unprecedented wave of immigration.
"Our economic mix will be different in five years. Our cultural mix, our demographics will be different. But our flag is something that stands through all that, and doesn't get caught up in the latest brand or latest logo," Mr. Moger said.
"It's not like decorating a house with this season's colours. Our flag is something, for us, that has stood that test of time."
MORE READING
