A black, white and blue flag design featuring the silver fern is the frontrunner for an alternative New Zealand flag in a Herald poll.

The flag, designed by Kyle Lockwood (Number 5), has been chosen by 18 per cent of around 3000 voters in the unscientific online survey.

The same flag design with different colours (6), also by Mr Lockwood, has picked up 15 per cent of the vote.

Those two flags are by far the most popular out of the 40 designs selected by a panel from more than 10,000 submissions.

The panel is tasked with whittling down the shortlist to four designs for the first referendum in November and December.

The highest polling flag that did not follow Mr Lockwood's design is the "Black Jack" (25), which includes a Union Jack made out of koru designs and has received 5 per cent of the vote.

Prime Minister John Key originally supported the silver fern with a black background, but changed his mind when it was compared to the Islamic State's flag.

He said today he preferred Mr Lockwood's red, white and blue design (5).

Labour leader Andrew Little said he had a brief glance at the shortlist but has not picked a favourite.

He did not plan to vote in the referendum because he felt it was not the time for Government to be spending $26 million on a flag.

Some of New Zealand's most distinguished individuals also favoured a national flag with a silver fern.

Dame Catherine Tizard, a member of the Order of New Zealand, said her choice would be either of the two flags with a silver fern on a black background (9 and 11).

"Foreigners will think it's a white feather but oh well," she said. "The silver fern does pick up some tradition."Another Order of New Zealand member, scientist Sir Peter Gluckman, said he liked the "Silver Fern (White, Black and Red)" design (8).

"That appeals to me very much as being a good flag for New Zealand. I certainly think it is far superior to the current flag."

He also liked the koru designs, in particular the "Unity Koru" (21).

The legislation which paved the way for the flag referendum returned to Parliament this afternoon.

During the often-heated debate, National MPs singled out the Labour Party for changing its position and opposing a flag referendum.

"Only nine months [ago] they campaigned at the election saying they wanted to change the flag," Housing Minister Nick Smith said.

"And then they come to this House and say we should never change the flag. There is a simple message - they lack integrity, they are untrustworthy, they are duplicitous."

Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway defended his party's change of heart, saying public opinion had turned against the referenda because of their high cost at a time when the economy was beginning to wobble.

New Zealand First MP Denis O'Rourke took a shot at the shortlisted designs, saying they were "gaudy", "rubbish" and not fit to replace the current flag.

After the alternative design is chosen, voters will be asked to vote between the winning design and the existing national flag in March.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11495552

This Aug. 11, 2015, image released by the New Zealand Flag Consideration Project shows 40 designs being considered as the new flag for New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand. New Zealand is considering changing its flag. The public was encouraged to come up with ideas, and submitted over 10,000 designs. A government-appointed panel has winnowed those down to 40 finalists. (New Zealand Flag Consideration Project via AP) (Associated Press)

By Nick Perry | AP August 12 at 3:21 AM

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand is considering changing its flag. The public was encouraged to come up with ideas, and submitted more than 10,000 designs. A government-appointed panel has winnowed those down to 40 finalists.

A look at the flag flap:

___

WHY CHANGE?

Many in New Zealand consider the current flag to be outdated and too similar to Australia’s flag. It depicts Britain’s Union Jack in the top left corner, which harks back to a colonial past that many New Zealanders are eager to put behind them. New Zealand sometimes comes under the shadow of Australia, its larger neighbor, and having flags that are almost identical only compounds that problem.

However, there are plenty of New Zealanders who want to keep their current flag. Many veterans fought under the flag and feel a special bond to it. Others simply don’t see any need for a change, or view the process as an expensive stunt initiated by Prime Minister John Key to distract from more pressing issues.

___

THE DESIGNS

Almost all of the 40 finalists feature one of three design elements, or a combination of them: the koru, the silver fern and the Southern Cross.

The koru is a spiral symbol that was often used in indigenous Maori art. It depicts an unfurling fern frond. It also has metaphorical meanings, suggesting perpetual movement and the circular nature of life. It is featured on many things, from tattoo designs to Air New Zealand’s logo.

The silver fern is the koru unfurled. Native ferns are found throughout New Zealand forests and the silver fern is noted for its striking appearance. Even more than the koru, the silver fern has become a national symbol, and is worn by many of the country’s sports teams, including the beloved All Blacks rugby team.

The Southern Cross is a distinctive star constellation visible from the Southern Hemisphere. Unlike the koru and silver fern, the Southern Cross is featured on the current flag.

___

THE SELECTION

In choosing the finalists, the government panel said in an open letter that it kept the following in mind:

“A great flag should be distinctive and so simple it can be drawn by a child from memory. A great flag is timeless and communicates swiftly and potently the essence of the country it represents. A flag should carry sufficient dignity to be appropriate for all situations in which New Zealanders might be represented. It should speak to all Kiwis.”

The panel said that in reviewing the designs it was guided by what thousands of New Zealanders said they thought was special about their country. The panel also consulted Maori cultural experts, as well as flag and design experts.

___

THE CRITICISM

Some people are concerned the 40 designs are too similar and not artistically ambitious enough. Others worry they look too much like corporate logos, are too complicated or don’t tell a strong enough story.

A humorous column in The Sydney Morning Herald was titled “New Zealand has 40 ideas for a new flag — and they’re awful.” Journalist Michael Koziol posed the question: “Is there a worse act of collective torture than a nation changing its flag? It takes forever, you have to consult everyone under the sun, and nobody can agree on anything anyway.”

Many New Zealanders have also criticized the cost of the process to taxpayers: 26 million New Zealand dollars ($17 million).

___

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Flag Consideration Panel will choose four final flag designs by mid-September. New Zealanders will then vote for their favorite among those in a November referendum.

But even then, changing the flag is by no means a certainty. After a favorite alternative flag is chosen, it will be pitted head-to-head with the current flag in a second referendum, to be held next March. Only then will New Zealanders decide whether they’ll get a new flag.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-new-flag-new-zealand-picks-40-best-from-10000-designs/2015/08/12/bb1a33da-40c2-11e5-b2c4-af4c6183b8b4_story.html

A government panel has whittled 10,292 proposals down to 40 designs

New Zealand is a step closer to getting a new flag, after an independent panel sifted through more than 10,000 submitted designs to emerge with 40 finalists.

The country is in the process of nominating a new design to replace their current flag, which is based partly on the United Kingdom’s Union Jack. The panel’s next step, according to the Guardian, is to further reduce those proposals down to four nominees that the public will vote on later this year. The winner of that vote will compete with the current standard in another national referendum.

All design descriptions in this gallery are from the New Zealand government’s official website.

http://time.com/3990784/new-zealand-flag-designs/

August 11, 2015 - 9:52AM
Hamish Rutherford    SYDNEY 

The process to choose what could be New Zealand's new flag has narrowed to 40 options. 
On Monday afternoon the Flag Consideration Panel released a "long list" of 40 designs, chosen from more than 10,000 options submitted by the public.

The list is dominated by designs prominently featuring ferns, koru and stars. It does not include some of the more humorous designs, such as the kiwi farting a rainbow or flags referencing blowing on pies. Chairman John Burrows said he and his colleagues had investigated every submission, but the 40 selected designs had been chosen unanimously.

"In reviewing alternatives, we were guided that a potential new flag should unmistakably be from New Zealand and celebrate us as a progressive, inclusive nation that is connected to its environment, and has a sense of its past and vision for its future," Burrows said in a statement.
"The panel has made its preliminary selection of flag designs that it believes best represent the range of suggestions it has received. It is important that those designs are timeless, can work in a variety of contexts, are simple, uncluttered, balanced and have good contrast." The chosen 40 will now be subject to further scrutiny, including whether any breach intellectual property law.

In mid-September the panel is expected to announce four of them to be subject to a national referendum. The most popular design will then go head-to-head with the current flag in another referendum in March 2016.

Prime Minister John Key favours changing the flag, claiming the existing design is often mistaken for Australia's. Although the cost of deciding whether to change the flag - up to $26 million - has come under fire, Key claimed recently that a new design would be "worth billions" to New Zealand.
"How much is it worth ultimately if we change our flag and people recognise and buy our products? Basically in the end it's gonna be worth billions over time, Key told More FM on August 6.

Five of the flags shortlisted are supported by the 'Silver Fern Flag' group, which favours an image of the distinctive flora on the ensign.

"Like the maple leaf to Canada, the silver fern 'screams New Zealand', and it's not just a mere sports symbol, In far off fields lie our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, forever memorialised under the silver fern." the group's spokesman Kyle Lockwood said.

"The silver fern is on our army and navy logos, our firefighter, police and sportspersons uniforms, it's on our money, it's on our passports, it's on our national airliners, and soon our fern will be on New Zealand rockets sending satellites into space, it's our national symbol and it's time we put it on our flag."

stuff.co.nz

http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-zealand-releases-40-options-for-new-flag-20150810-giw7ez.html#ixzz3iVGvZaJ4 

New Zealand has released a longlist of 40 designs for a new flag and appears destined to dispense with the Union Jack, which appears on only one option.

An independent panel received 10,292 public submissions for a new design and has reduced the entries to 40 “timeless” options, dispensing with quirkier proposals such as a QR code and a kiwi shooting a laser beam from its eyes.

• New Zealand's new flag: Some of the weird and wonderful designs, in pictures
"Our hope is that New Zealanders will see themselves reflected in these flags' symbols, colour and stories,” said the twelve-person panel in an open letter to the New Zealand public.
“A great flag should be distinctive and so simple it can be drawn by a child from memory … The panel made a unanimous decision and selected flag designs we believe best reflect New Zealand's identity, as shared with us in the values and themes that New Zealanders expressed throughout this process."

The panel said it will now consult with experts on culture, art, design and vexillology, or the study of flags, and will ensure the 40 designs comply with intellectual property laws before announcing a shortlist of four in September.

Silver Fern (Red, White & Blue) by Kyle Lockwood  Photo: New Zealand Government

A referendum will be held in November or December to decide on a preferred option. A second referendum will then be held next March to decide between the preferred option and the current flag.

John Key, New Zealand’s prime minister, is a staunch monarchist but led a push for a new flag, saying the current design was dominated by the Union Jack even though the former British colony was “no longer dominated by Britain”. He has indicated his preference for a design featuring a silver fern.

Many of the forty proposed options included silver ferns, the Southern Cross, or the koru, a spiral shape commonly found in Maori art and carvings. Only one design, titled “Black Jack”, featured a version of the Union Jack.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/11794018/New-Zealand-releases-40-options-for-new-flag-only-one-features-the-Union-Jack.html

Media Release 
silverfernflag.org

Monday 435pm 10 August 2015

We are pleased to announce that five of our flag designs have been short-listed by the Government's Flag Consideration Project.

Recent polling suggests that the alternative flag most New Zealanders would choose, is a flag containing the silver fern, the fern symbol resonates with many New Zealanders, including Olympian Mahe Drysdale, who has recently expressed his preference for one of our silver fern flag designs containing the silver fern and Southern Cross.

Like the maple leaf to Canada, the silver fern ‘screams New Zealand’, and it's not just a mere sports symbol. In far off fields lie our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, forever memorialised under the silver fern.

The silver fern is on our army and navy logos, our firefighter, police and sportspersons uniforms, it's on our money, it's on our passports, it's on our national airliners, and soon our fern will be on New Zealand rockets sending satellites into space, it's our national symbol and it's time we put it on our flag.


Kyle Lockwood
Spokesman
silverfernflag.org

Contacts 
[email protected]
[email protected]

FLY OUR FERN

[ENDS]

We have been informed by various businesses and non profit organisations that NZ Trade and Enterprise are no longer licensing their fern to New Zealand businesses.

The most famous example of the NZTE fern is the design found on the side of Air New Zealand aircraft.

Youi Insurance, Aerospace companies and New Zealand sportspeople have used our fern in the past, and We will continue to offer licences to NZ business, sportspeople, and non-profits, you can apply for your licence now.

silverfernflag.org

A new flag is "gonna be worth billions" to New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key says.

In an interview on More FM on Thursday morning, Key hit back at critics of the flag referendum.

He said one of the main problems people had with the vote was the cost.

"Basically in the end it's gonna be worth billions over time," says John Key of a proposed new flag..

"People say it will cost $26 million, it will cost less than that," he said.

He argued that the flag would make New Zealand money in the long term.

"How much is it worth ultimately if we change our flag and people recognise and buy our products?

"Basically in the end it's gonna be worth billions over time."

The two-step referendum on the flag was announced by the Government last year, with Key favouring a move away from the union jack on the current ensign.

A panel is currently considering more than 10,000 designs submitted by the public.

The panel will choose four options from those designs. In the first referendum, the public will rank those four options.

In a second referendum, the existing flag will be pitted against the most popular choice.

When prompted on whether the flag change would be his legacy, Key said the flag debate started before he became Prime Minister.

"It's not about me," he said.

"My legacy, I think, will be the economic management of the country, the way we stood behind Christchurch, so many other things. Hopefully my positivity as a prime minister."

Key referred to Canada's flag change in 1965 to support his arguments for a change. He said the old Canadian design was similar to New Zealand's current flag and that the Canadian government selected a new design without a referendum. 

"Show me a single Canadian on their planet who would go back to their old flag? Not a single Canadian would."

SUMMARY OF JOHN KEY'S 10 REBUTTALS TO KEEPING THE FLAG

1. "You're a bit late."

The flag has been changed before, Key said.

"It's actually our third flag," he said. "You're a bit late."

2. "Sheer confusion."

"No one knows our flag internationally," he said. 

3. "People fought and died under the flag, I understand that completely, and that's the line that the RSA runs."

However, while Key respected the RSA, he said Commonwealth war graves were decorated with the silver fern, not the flag. He said the flag was about "values and principles of the country".

4. Other Commonwealth countries have changed their flag.

17 out of 20 Commonwealth countries changed their flags, Key said. "Odd thing maybe in a way is not changing."

5. "I'm the biggest constitutional monarchist out."

To those who feared New Zealand would then become a republic, Key said he wanted the Queen to be the Head of State.

6. "Look at the Canadian flag."

Key said wearing the New Zealand flag on a sweatshirt, no one would know what it was. Unlike the maple leaf.

7. "We simply don't use it."

Key referenced sports games where New Zealanders don't wear the flag.

8. "Building the sense of a young multicultural country"

Key said the flag will help young people to promote New Zealand overseas.

9. 26 million? "It'll cost less than that."

"How much is it worth ultimately if we change our flag and people recognise and buy our products? Basically in the end it's gonna be worth billions over time."

10. "It'll never be the right time."

To those who think now is not the right time, Key said it will never be.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70872711/prime-minister-john-key-says-a-new-flag-will-be-worth-billions-to-new-zealand

Last updated 13:12 03/08/2015     stuff.co.nz

How about a colourful flag for New Zealand? This flag is a variant of the Silver Fern Flag with the red portion at the hoist changed to black ‐ one of New Zealand's most well known national colours.

Black has been a gazetted official New Zealand colour since at least 1975, along with red and white, and the colour blue features on our official coat of arms and, of course, our present flag which was made official in 1902.

The colours black, red, white and blue were also on New Zealand's first home grown flag design of 1834.

Black also featured strongly on New Zealand war service medals, given to our brave soldiers after World War Two, it is a significant colour to Maori, and features on the Maori National Flag of New Zealand made official in 2011.

New Zealand's coat of arms was designed and made official in 1911.

On the shield, three black ships on a white background, representing our trading, immigration, and maritime history, feature predominantly on the arms. Black also features prominently, but not overwhelmingly, on the cloak of the Maori supporter, and red and blue also feature strongly throughout.

Contrary to popular belief the silver fern did not start out as a rugby football symbol, it actually was first worn by New Zealand troops in 1853, and in the 1880s was adopted by our rugby team, firstly as a gold fern on a navy blue Jersey. It wasn't until the early 1900s that the silver fern on an all‐black jersey became well known.

Like the maple leaf to Canada, the silver fern ‘screams New Zealand’, and it's not just a mere sports symbol. In far off fields lie our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, forever memorialised under the silver fern.

The fern is on our army and navy logos, our firefighter and police uniforms, it's on our money, it's on our passports, it's on our national airliners, it's our symbol and it's time we put it on our flag.

On examining our history and growing sense of national identity, it appears that many would like to include our famous national colour black, and of course many others would not like to see a fully black flag with all the piracy connotations that it invokes.

Perhaps this flag, with a nod to our past, incorporating all of New Zealand's national colours and the fern, is the design that best represents New Zealand ‐ without the colonial overtones of the Union flag that takes up the dominant position on our present flag.

And, like the flags of Belgium and South Africa, it also doesn't suffer from an overuse of black.

Black is our obvious national colour. It represents the pride and strength of New Zealand. To Māori, black represents potential, and signifies the beginning of time, which is apt, given our position as one of the first nations to see the new day.

The colour blue, representing the pacific, and our clear skies, along with the traditional New Zealand Southern Cross in red, gives this proposed national flag the required vibrancy that a silver fern on an entirely black background cannot achieve. By incorporating the Southern Cross and colours from our present flag, I believe the design also honours our history. 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/share-your-news-and-views/12341164/Why-its-time-to-put-the-silver-fern-on-our-flag