The Rhodesian government initiated a search for a new anthem around the time of its adoption of a new green-and-white flag in November 1968, but continued to use "God Save the Queen" until June 1969, when the mostly white electorate voted in favour of a republican form of government. The royal anthem officially remained in place until the formal declaration of a republic in March 1970, when it was abandoned along with numerous other overt references to the Crown. Republican Rhodesia was without an anthem for over four years before the chosen music was announced on 28 August 1974: the Fourth Movement, commonly called "Ode to Joy", from Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The fact that the Council of Europe had adopted this tune as the "Anthem of Europe" in January 1972 apparently did not perturb the Rhodesian government; John Sutherland and Stephen Fender comment that Rhodesia's choice proved deeply embarrassing for the UK's Labour government, whose leaders now had to respect a melody associated with Rhodesia when attending official European functions. With a tune now in place, the Rhodesian government organised a nationwide competition to write matching lyrics, the winner of which would receive a cash prize of R$500 (equal to about US$1,000).