Lockwood silver fern flag

Lockwood silver fern flag

Silver fern flag design with black, white and blue
Name	Silver fern flag
Proportion	1:2
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 designed using different colours in 2003. It was the winning design in the first of two New Zealand flag referendums in December 2015, and will be used in the second flag referendum in a binding contest against the current New Zealand flag.

Design and symbolism

The design of the flag combines the silver fern flag (toward the hoist) with the stars of the current national flag. The silver fern is a popular symbol of the people of New Zealand, while the stellar constellation known as the southern cross is meant to represent the antipodean location of the country in the Southern Hemisphere. Black and red are both 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.

History

The original 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 published by Lockwood in 2003, and won a competition in July 2004 run by The Hutt News.^[1] The flag appeared on Campbell Live in 2005 and won an online poll that included the present national flag.

Lockwood has produced the flag in several of colour combinations and designs, including fewer fern fronds.^[2] 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 different shade of blue. This design is currently John Key's preferred proposal. The original red design was criticised on aesthetic grounds by Hamish Keith, Paul Henry and John Oliver.^[3][4] The New Zealand Herald writer Karl Puschmann called it a design for those "sitting on the fence" who didn't want much change.^[5] Members of the public had compared it unfavourably to Weet-Bix packaging, "Kiwi Party Ware" plastic plate packaging, the National Basketball Association logo, or a merger of the Labour and National party logos.^[6] The Royal New Zealand Air Force 3 Squadron complained that the flag was a copyright violation of their 2010 insignia until it was pointed out to them that Lockwood's flag preceded their insignia by many years.^[1]

Versions

Five versions of Lockwood's flag were included in the Flag Consideration Panel's long list for the referendums.^[7] 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.

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  Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue) (shortlisted)

• 

  Silver Fern (Black, White and Red)

• 

  Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) (shortlisted)

• 

  Silver Fern (Black with Red Stars)

• 

  Silver Fern (Black & White)

See also

• Hundertwasser koru flag
• List of New Zealand flags

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags by Kyle Lockwood.

• Official flag referendum entry
• Silverfernflag.org lobby website