I tried to follow the link from the article to the survey but it did not work.
My impression of the survey from the article made it seem liked the question was…” which alternative flag design do you support” as they mentioned that of 8140 replies only 6427 people chose an alternative. This was interpreted as a “protest vote” by the originators of the survey.
Any one here who was a fan of Yes Minister would know how to phrase a survey question…