UPDATED 8.59pm: The Electoral Commission has announced Kyle Lockwood's black, white and blue Silver Fern won the most votes in the first flag referendum with 50.53 percent of the vote.

The next most preferred flag design was Lockwood's red, white and blue flag, which polled 49.47 per cent.

It was followed by Red Peak, the black and white silver fern, and the koru.

The final result was so narrow that it could still change on late and overseas ballots, so the decision won't be confirmed until Tuesday.

The total votes received were 1,527,042 which includes 148,022 informal votes (9.7 percent) and 2,476 invalid votes (0.16 percent) and voter turnout was 48.16 percent.

The winning flag will go up against the current flag in a second referendum to begin on March 3rd next year.

More than 10,000 flags were submitted which were then whittled down to four finalists.

Kyle Lockwood had two designs make the cut with 'Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue)' and 'Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue)' while Alofi Kanter's 'Silver Fern (Black and White)' was also chosen along with 'Koru' by Andrew Fyfe.

Aaron Dustin's 'Red Peak' flag was added as a fifth option after a large amount of public support following disappointment about the four flags initially chosen by the committee.