Which would have you chosen if we could do it all over again?

Flag debate revisited: Which flag would you choose?

Author: Megan Harvey, NZ Herald ,
Publish Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019, 12:06PM

Three years after the flag referendum flopped, our former prime minister Sir John Key has come out and said if he was leader again, he would change the New Zealand flag without asking the public.

So the Herald thought it would give Kiwis the chance to vote again, without spending $26 million.

Two referendums were held: one choosing the best flag design and a second to decide whether that design should replace the current flag.

Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) - by Kyle Lockwood

Koru - by Andrew Fyfe

The final four flags were chosen by the Flag Consideration Panel in Wellington after they were sent a mammoth 10,000 submissions earlier in the year. That was narrowed down to a long-list of 40 flag designs.

Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue) - by Kyle Lockwood

Silver Fern (Black & White) - by Alofi Kanter

After the finalists were revealed, the public was disappointed that the Red Peak design didn't make the cut from the top 40 list.

A social media campaign was launched to capture the attention of the Government and get it to make the design a finalist.

The campaign became successful, with Red Peak being added to the referendum ballot as a fifth (and the only non-fern inspired) option.

Red Peak designed by Aaron Dustin.

Now that the flag debate has been brought back in the spotlight, questions have been raised whether Kiwis have changed their minds about which new flag design they would choose.

Key says he wishes he had changed the flag without referendum

Vote below:

Now the question that most of the public thought that should have been asked first, would you want a new flag design or believe we should stick with the current New Zealand flag?

Also from the 10,000 designs that were entered, there were also some hilarious offbeat flag ideas, such as the Laser Kiwi, that media had fun highlighting.

Here were some of the favourites with descriptions of the design.

Fire the Lazar! designed by James Gray.

"The laser beam projects a powerful image of New Zealand. I believe my design is so powerful it does not need to be discussed."

Te Pepe designed by David Astil.

"That feel when our eyes gaze upon the flightless and majestic rare-Kiwi bird is a classic icon of NZ's deep relationship with our ancestors, their spirit, land and culture. Te Pepe Tamariki, Te Papa Aotearoa."

Sheep and Hokey Pokey Designed by Jesse Gibbs.

"This design represents all of NZ because we have lots of sheep and love hokey pokey ice cream. I even included the blue and red to keep all of you naysayers happy. Kiwi as bro."