Change the NZ Flag was a group campaigning for New Zealanders to change the
national flag of New Zealand. The group described itself as "an independent, non-political, design-neutral society that is committed to building support for, and involvement with, the flag change process."
Originally founded by Wellington businessman Lloyd Morrison as the NZ Flag.com Trust, the group reformed in 2015 as "New Flag New Zealand Incorporated" to campaign in the
referendums
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on the issue. New Flag New Zealand Incorporated was dissolved in 2018.
The group was affiliated with
Ausflag
Ausflag is an organisation that was established to promote a new flag of Australia.
Ausflag was formed in 1981 by Harold Scruby who has since worked to foster debate on the design of the flag. Prominent Australians that have been involved in th ...
, a trust promoting a redesign of the
flag of Australia.
History
The group was originally the NZ Flag.com Trust, established in 2003 by
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
businessman
Lloyd Morrison
Hugh Richmond Lloyd Morrison (18 September 1957 – 10 February 2012) was a Wellington, New Zealand-based investment banker and entrepreneur. He founded H.R.L. Morrison & Co in 1988, and Morrison & Co launched the infrastructure company In ...
with the goal of bringing about a referendum on the issue under the
Citizens Initiated Referendum Act 1993. The Trust was a non-profit charitable trust and relied on donations and proceeds from the sale of merchandise to fund its operation.
Petition to change flag
In January 2005, the Trust launched a petition to bring about a
citizens' initiated referendum on the issue. Had it been successful, a referendum would have been held at the
2005 general election. However, the Trust failed to attract enough signatures, and six months after its launch, the petition had been signed by 100,000 people (the signatures of 270,000 – 10 per cent of eligible voters – were required to trigger a referendum).
After
Telecom New Zealand
Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed-line telephone services, a mobile phone network, internet access services, and (through its Spark Digital division) ICT services to businesses. It was know ...
and
New Zealand Post
NZ Post ( mi, Tukurau Aotearoa), shortened from New Zealand Post, is a state-owned enterprise responsible for providing postal service in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommuni ...
reneged on an offer to distribute the petition nationwide, the Trust withdrew the petition.
Lloyd Morrison attributed the failure to apathy from the general public, while supporters of New Zealand's current flag attributed the petition's failure to the popularity of that flag.
Flag referendums
In 2014, Prime Minister
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...
announced his intention to hold a referendum on New Zealand's flag. In May 2015, the group launched a campaign in support of changing the flag.
With the NZ Flag.com Trust dissolved, a new group, New Flag New Zealand Incorporated, with many of the same members, was formed.
Following the failure of the flag referendum, Change the NZ Flag was wound-up and its web domain and Facebook page were taken over by
New Zealand Republic, also led by Lewis Holden.
See also
*
New Zealand flag debate
The New Zealand flag debate is a periodic question over whether the national flag should be changed. For several decades, alternative designs have been proposed, with varying degrees of support. There is no consensus among proponents of changi ...
*
Silver fern flag
*
New Zealand Flag Institute
References
External links
* {{Official website
NZ Flag.com older website
Organizations established in 2003
New Zealand culture
Political groupings in New Zealand
2003 establishments in New Zealand