Country votes in flag referendum

New Zealanders began voting on Friday to select a potential new flag, part of a controversial push for the South Pacific country to drop Britain's Union Flag from its national banner.

Voters are being asked to choose between five flag options in a postal referendum that will continue until Dec 11.

The winning design will then go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum in March.

Prime Minister John Key has made the flag reform issue a pet project since his government won a third term late last year.

He sees the current flag, which has the Union Flag in the upper left corner, as an anachronism, arguing the country needs a standard "that screams New Zealand".

Key has also expressed frustration that the flag - which features four red stars representing the Southern Cross on a dark blue background - is frequently confused with Australia's.

Elections NZ said about 3 million ballot papers were being sent out in the nation of 4.5 million.

The cost of the exercise is an estimated $16.4 million, which critics such as veterans group the Returned and Services' Association call a waste of money.

Disobedience

In a rare show of civil disobedience, the conservative RSA has encouraged Kiwis to spoil their ballot rather than take part in the first referendum.

"One way they can do that is by writing 'I support the current flag' on their ballot paper," RSA President B.J. Clark said.

The RSA argues that to change the flag disrespects previous generations of soldiers who have died fighting under the banner.

"When they have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, our flag has been draped over their casket at military funerals," it said.

Four of the five designs in the first referendum feature the fern, New Zealand's unofficial national emblem.

The fifth, dubbed "Red Peak", consists of red, black and blue triangles with a white chevron. It was a late addition to the lineup after a social media campaign for its inclusion.

(China Daily 11/21/2015 page12)