We have a winner

By an incredibly narrow margin the black, white and blue silver fern has beaten out the red, white and blue design.

Turnout was 48.2% and of the 1,527,042 votes received there were 148,022 informals.

The first round of counting saw:

1. Red, white, blue fern 41.7%
2. Black, white, blue fern 40.2%
3. Red Peak 8.7%
4. Black & white fern 5.7%
5. Koru 3.8%

The second round of counting saw:

1. Red, white, blue fern 42.4%
2. Black, white, blue fern 40.9%
3. Red Peak 9.7%
4. Black & white fern 7.1%

The third round of counting saw:

1. Black, white, blue fern 44.8%
2. Red, white, blue fern 44.4%
3. Red Peak 10.8%

The final round of counting saw

1. Black, white, blue fern 50.5%
2. Red, white, blue fern 49.5%

Overwhelming support for the two Kyle Lockwood designs. You can see why they were both included.

The winning flag  is now the distinct underdogs under the current design, but New Zealanders now have a binary choice and three months to debate and decide.