A white and red torch with an abstract and ostentatious flame will be the Labour Party’s new emblem following a consultation exercise which cost supporters €20,883 worth of SMSs.

In all, 11,178 people voted, including 1,358 non-party members, whose €6.99 vote included a membership fee.

The rest paid €1.16 for each SMS, of which an unspecified amount will go to the party.

Sixty-five per cent of voters chose the winning emblem, which was designed by TBWA\ANG – an international PR franchise, whose Maltese chairman is Godfrey Grima, a Labour-leaning opinion writer who publicly supported Joseph Muscat’s leadership bid in 2008.

The company will receive prize money of €1,000 for submitting the winning design.

Although the party had said it would unveil the new emblem on November 6 during a ceremony, the winning design was ann-ounced yesterday through a press release.

The Labour Party said the emblem would now be “finalised” before it is unveiled in the ceremony held on November 6 to commemorate 90 years of the party’s history.

The process to replace the emblem began last May when the party invited the public to submit emblems that had to incorporate the traditional elements including the torch, the Maltese flag and the party’s name.

The torch, the party said, represented light, intellectuality, progress and love.

Originally more than 200 designs were submitted, and those that satisfied the main brief were then exhibited at the party’s headquarters over the summer. Three designs were then shortlisted by a panel of experts.

According to TBWA\ANG CEO Bertrand Attard, the new emblem is the representation of the Labour Party today, because over 60 per cent of the party members who participated in the selection process chose the emblem out of the many options submitted.

Labour deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia said the chosen emblem was his favourite: “To me it is clear that the torch is the light of the future which the Labour Party has always followed to be the progressive party.”

The announcement of the new emblem sparked several reactions online, with many commentators on timesofmalta.com describing it as the wrong choice.

Some even described it as “kitsch”, while others who said it was “fresh” and “modern” said those criticising the emblem were “jealous”.

This is the fourth time the Labour Party has undergone an emblem change.