Use | Official alternative New Zealand flag voted by the people in the first of the New Zealand flag referendums in 2015. |
---|---|
Proportion | 1:2 |
Design | A silver fern representing the multi-cultural people of New Zealand, and southern cross referencing the antipodean location of the country. |
Designed by | Kyle Lockwood |
The black, white and blue silver fern flag is a proposed flag for New Zealand by architectural designer Kyle Lockwood. It was first designed using different colours in 2000. [1] It was voted as the preferred alternative New Zealand flag in the first of two New Zealand flag referendums in December 2015, and was used in the second flag referendum in a binding contest against the current New Zealand flag. Despite a UMR poll predicting that the flag would earn only 35% of the vote, [2] the Silver Fern Flag gained a significant minority in the March 2016 referendum with 43.2% of the vote, whilst the existing flag won with 56.6% of the vote. [3]
The design of the flag combines the silver fern flag (toward the hoist) with the stars of the current national flag. The silver fern frond is a popular symbol of the people of New Zealand, while the stellar constellation known as the southern cross represents the antipodean location of the country in the Southern Hemisphere. The multiple pinnates on the silver fern leaf represent New Zealand's multicultural society, a single fern spreading upwards representing one people growing into the future. [4] Black, white, and red are the national colours of New Zealand traditionally associated with the Māori people; while blue is dominant in the current national flag and symbolises the South Pacific Ocean.
The original 2000 sketch design used black in the upper left corner, and the first prototype design used red in the upper left corner, and a darker shade of blue for the main part of the flag. The blue represented the ocean, the red represented Māori and also sacrifices during wartime, and the white of the fern is a reference to the "Land of the Long White Cloud" (translated from the Māori "Aotearoa"). This design was first published by Lockwood in 2003, and won a competition in July 2004 run by The Hutt News . [5] The flag appeared on Campbell Live in 2004 and won an online poll that included the present national flag.
Lockwood has produced the flag in several of colour combinations and designs, including more and fewer fern fronds. [6] Some New Zealanders believe that the current New Zealand flag is a reminder of British colonialism and does not truly represent their culture; however, those who support the current flag say that it represents the history of the country as a part of the British Empire and location in the Southern Hemisphere.
Lockwood's winning entry in the New Zealand flag referendum had black instead of red, and a brighter shade of blue. This design is John Key's preferred proposal. The original red design was criticised on aesthetic grounds by Hamish Keith, Paul Henry and John Oliver. [7] [8] The New Zealand Herald writer Karl Puschmann called it a design for those "sitting on the fence" who didn't want much change. [9] Members of the public had also compared it unfavourably to Weet-Bix packaging, or a merger of the Labour and National party logos. [10] It was also likened to the design of a beach towel. [11] However, Lockwood pointed out that most national flags were made into beach towels. [12] The Royal New Zealand Air Forces 3 Squadron complained that the flag was a copyright violation of their 2010 insignia until the Air Force discovered that Lockwood's flag preceded their insignia by many years. [5]
Prominent New Zealanders, including former Governor General Dame Catherine Tizard, [13] All Black Dan Carter, [14] Olympian Ian Fergusson, [15] cricketing great Sir Richard Hadlee, [16] Olympic athlete Sir Peter Snell, [17] Mahe Drysdale, [18] and former All Black captain Richie McCaw came out in support of the alternative design. After the 2015 Rugby World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Twickenham, England, Richie McCaw said "Running out at Twickenham and seeing the two flags looking so similar. The silver fern has always been the special symbol on the All Black jersey that represents who we are as kiwis, so the new flag with a silver fern as a part of it would be a great option I believe." [19] On the subject of flag change Dame Cath Tizard said "We don't wear the clothes of a century ago or drive around today in Model T Fords. Our present flag served a young post-colonial country well, but the time has come to consider a change which more appropriately recognises our changed identity and confidence in ourselves." [20]
After the second referendum, the flag continued to make appearances in the International media. In the first New Zealand cricket test against Zimbabwe on 28 July 2016, the flag was featured in the opening graphics sequence, [21] The flag is also seen flying from flagpoles around New Zealand, Kip Colvey a prominent US/NZ football player, appeared in Fairfax media on 26 December 2016, in front of the flag. [22]
Lockwood's silver fern design features in the livery of the 'Electron' rocket [23] in Rocket Lab's New Zealand space program, The first Electron rocket was scheduled to launch in late 2016. [24]
The silver fern design will also feature in the Orewa Walk of Fame in Auckland which was scheduled to be dedicated in September 2016. [25]
Five versions of Lockwood's flag were included in the Flag Consideration Panel's long list for the referendums. [26] Two of them, the original red, white and blue and the winning black, white and blue versions, reached the short list of four (later five) flags.
New service flags were proposed for New Zealand following the Lockwood Silver Fern Flag. [27] The option of changing these flags was not, however, included in the referendum.
The flag of New Zealand, also known as the New Zealand Ensign, is based on the British maritime Blue Ensign – a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton or upper hoist corner – augmented or defaced with four red stars centred within four white stars, representing the Southern Cross constellation.
Alsophila tricolor, synonym Cyathea dealbata, commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga, is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand. The fern is usually recognisable by the silver-white colour of the under-surface of mature fronds. It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves.
Richard Hugh McCaw is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award a joint record three times and was the most capped test rugby player of all time from August 2015 to October 2020. McCaw was awarded World Rugby player of the decade (2011–2020) in 2021. McCaw is also a winner of the New Zealand sportsman of the decade award.
A koru flag was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1983 and proposed as a secondary flag for New Zealand.
Change the NZ Flag was a group campaigning for New Zealanders to change the national flag of New Zealand. The group described itself as "an independent, non-political, design-neutral society that is committed to building support for, and involvement with, the flag change process."
The flag of the governor-general of New Zealand is an official flag of New Zealand and is flown continuously on buildings and other locations when a governor-general is present. The flag in its present form was adopted in 2008 and is a blue field with the shield of the New Zealand coat of arms royally crowned. The official heraldic description is "A flag of a blue field thereon the Arms of New Zealand ensigned by the Royal Crown all proper".
A silver fern flag is any flag design that incorporates a silver fern, and is usually a white silver fern on a black background. The silver fern motif is associated with New Zealand, and a silver fern flag may be used as an unofficial flag of New Zealand, to which it is endemic. The silver fern itself is a quasi-national emblem, being used for various official symbols, including the coat of arms of New Zealand and the New Zealand one dollar coin. A number of New Zealand sports teams, such as the cricket team, the netball team and the rugby union team, use similar silver fern flags as part of their official merchandise. The All Whites, New Zealand's national association football team, use a white background and a black version of the fern.
Laura Robyn Langman is a retired New Zealand international netball player, who last played domestic netball for the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Australian Super Netball league. Primarily a midcourt player, Langman is a former captain and vice-captain of the New Zealand national netball team. She is the most capped player in the history of the Silver Ferns, having overtaken Irene van Dyk's record of 145 test matches in October 2018.
The New Zealand flag debate is a question over whether the national flag should be changed. For several decades, alternative designs have been proposed, with varying degrees of support. There is no consensus among proponents of changing the flag as to which design should replace the current one. Common criticisms of the existing form of the New Zealand flag are its similarity to the Australian flag and the inappropriateness of retaining the Union Jack in the design. A series of polls conducted since the 1970s have shown that a majority of New Zealanders prefer the current flag.
Rosemary Eleanor Florence White is a New Zealand footballer who last played as a midfielder for OL Reign in the National Women's Soccer League and the New Zealand national team.
The Constellation Cup is an international netball competition contested by Australia and New Zealand. The competition features a series of test matches. The two teams have competed for the trophy since 2010. Australia won the inaugural series and have gone on to become the competition's dominant team. Between 2013 and 2019, Australia won the series on seven successive occasions. New Zealand won the trophy for the first time in 2012 and for a second time in 2021.
Gemma McCaw is a New Zealand field hockey player who has represented her country in three Summer Olympics.
Many of the national sports teams of New Zealand have been given nicknames, officially or otherwise, based on the iconic status of the All Blacks rugby team, and the silver tree fern of their logo. The practice became controversial when Badminton New Zealand used the name "Black Cocks" for a period in 2004.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team and New Zealand women's national rugby union team. Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team that won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The Red Peak flag is a proposed New Zealand flag that appeared as one of five options for voters to consider in the 2015–16 flag referendums. Designed by Aaron Dustin in 2015, Red Peak appeared on the government's official longlist of 40 alternative flag designs before failing a final culling of the field on 1 September 2015 to four options. After public disappointment with the official four-flag shortlist, a social media campaign was launched on 2 September that revived the flag's prospects and captured the attention of leading parliamentary figures both in government and opposition. On 23 September, Prime Minister John Key announced the government had agreed to support Green Party legislation that would add Red Peak to the referendum ballot as a fifth option.
Two referendums were held by the New Zealand Government in November/December 2015 and March 2016 to determine the nation's flag. The voting resulted in the retention of the current flag of New Zealand.
Kyle Simon Lockwood JP is a New Zealand architectural designer based in Melbourne, Australia. He is known for leading the successful campaign for the New Zealand Government to reintroduce the duration of the New Zealand passport to ten years, and for designing the two flags that came first and second, in the first New Zealand flag referendum. He also successfully lobbied for the introduction of the popular 18+ card.
The national Māori flag, also known as the Tino Rangatiratanga flag in reference to the concept of tino rangatiratanga, is used to represent the Māori people of New Zealand. In 2009, the Tino Rangatiratanga flag was selected as the national Māori flag after a nationwide consultation. It was first revealed on Waitangi Day in 1990. Though it does not have official status from the New Zealand Government, it has been used by the government on official occasions.
The Laser Kiwi flag, originally titled Fire the Lazer, was designed in 2015 by Lucy Gray as a proposed flag of New Zealand for the 2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums. It has since become a social media phenomenon that has created ongoing interest in the design.
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