New Zealanders are one step closer to getting a flag that looks less like Australia’s – but they still have a colourful and varied menu to choose from.
Out of 10,292 possible designs for a new New Zealand flag, a government-appointed panel whittled it down to a longlist of 40 after consultations with cultural and design experts.
“Our hope is that New Zealanders will see themselves reflected in these flags’ symbols, colour and stories,” the panel said Monday in an open letter. To give context on what those symbols and stories are, here’s a look at how they emerged in some of the 40 designs.
FERNS
As far as national symbols go, New Zealand’s native silver fern, Cyathea dealbata, may be the closest analogue to Canada’s Maple Leaf. It’s used by many national sports teams, including the famous All Blacks rugby team, and it was on New Zealand’s penny for two decades before the coins were discontinued. Prime Minister John Key has supported a silver fern design for the flag.
KORU
The koru is a Maori symbol of an unfurling fern frond, used in Maori art as a symbol of creation. The logo of Air New Zealand features two koru. The symbol features prominently in the minimalist work of 20th-century New Zealand artist Gordon Walters.
LONG WHITE CLOUDS
The Maori name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, is usually translated as “land of the long white cloud.” Some of the submitted designs took the name literally, with a long, arched white strip across the middle.
SOUTHERN CROSSES
The Southern Cross constellation is widely used in the flags of Southern Hemisphere nations, including Australia, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. (It’s even visible in the middle of the Brazilian flag’s starry globe.) Unlike other countries that show the constellation with five stars, New Zealand uses four, omitting the dimmer star Epsilon Crucis. A flag with four stars was also used by the United Tribes of New Zealand, a short-lived Maori confederation in the 1830s, before New Zealand became a British colony.
THE UNION JACK
Most of the 40 designs omit the Union Jack, which Mr. Key has criticized as a symbol of New Zealand’s British Empire roots that should be removed. Mike Davison’s “Black Jack” design instead opts to subvert it, turning its white saltire (the diagonal cross representing Scotland) into koru.
HOW THE FLAG DEBATE UNFOLDED
New Zealand’s flag campaign began last year, when Mr. Key announced a plan to revisit the nation’s flag, legally introduced in 1902. In a speech last March, Mr. Key invited comparison to Canada’s 1965 flag debate that produced the Maple Leaf we know today. “That old flag represented Canada as it was once, rather than as it is now,” he said. “Similarly, I think our flag represents us as we were once, rather than as we are now.”
Whereas Canada’s flag redesign was settled in Parliament by an all-party committee and months of debate, Mr. Key opted to turn the decision over to New Zealand voters instead, and the flag panel was formed. Now that the panel has a long list, it’s aiming to narrow it down to four selections in mid-September. New Zealanders then get a chance to vote in two referendums: One some time later this year to rank the top four options, and another in March, 2016, pitting the top-ranked new option against the current flag.
If a new flag wins, New Zealanders will still be able to fly their flag of choice, though the new flag will fly at government buildings and on national commemoration ceremonies.
The reject pile: Check out the designs the panel didn't include