This section of the website highlights a small selection of the alternative designs for the New Zealand flag which have been promoted over time. There are many such designs. We have highlighted only those that have achieved some 'traction' in terms of publicity and following.
The flag represents the many aspects of our nation through a single element. It builds on the essence of our predominant cultural ensigns - the silver fern, the existing flag, the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, and Hundertwasser flag. It is a symbol of strength, unity and peace for the future of this land.
Copyright Jeff James
John Hepburn was born in Scotland and spent most of his working life in Canada
before arriving in New Zealand in 1993. In the 1999 General Election he stood
as a independent candidate for Tauranga with the sole manifesto of adopting
a new flag for the new millenium. "New Zealand has proved its independence.
It's dropped the British honours list, created a Supreme Court in favour of
the Privy Council and its national anthem is well established.
The only thing left is the flag."
Mike Lloyd is a Dunedin born Kiwi living in Melbourne. His design of late
2002 has received considerable positive comment. He says of his design
"Every day we fly the same flag is another day where the uniqueness and
identity of our country is lost. When, not if, we change the flag of New
Zealand I believe there will be a huge surge in our national unity and
identity ... Here's my design... Red, white and black - primary colours
used in Maori design. Green - pounamu, agriculture, bush. The Southern
Cross and the fern."
Kyle Lockwood designed his new flag in June 2000. He recently entered
it in the "Hutt News" flag competition run in July 2004 where
it was voted the winning flag.
Kyle Lockwood was born in the eastern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand in the late 1970s. He has had an interest in drawing and designing from an early age, from age 6, Kyle was often drawing the ships, aircraft, and buildings he could see from the front window of his grandparent’s seaside home. At college Kyle enjoyed design and craft related subjects such as art, woodwork, and technical drawing.
Kyle attended Massey University, where he studied two architectural diplomas. He graduated as top student in 2001. It was at Massey where he first drew sketches for the silver fern flag. For 2 years Kyle worked for Wellington based architects before setting up his own small architectural design practice in the Hutt Valley.
Jason Paul Troup states that "a national flag should tell an up-to-date
story of that country and that it should appear in a simple form".
Jason Paul Troup was born and raised in Hastings, Hawkes Bay. After finishing high school he worked briefly in New Zealand before travelling overseas to start his OE. It was whilst on his OE that he heard that back home, MP Marie Hasler was promoting the Silver Fern as a potential substitute to our present day national flag.
The suggestion that the silver fern was the best flag for the job is what spurred Jason on to design "FLAG NEW ZEALAND - KIWIFLAG". His view is that the silver fern is more a sports symbol. Mr Troup, who along with his wife Beata, run a small Backpackers Business in Hastings have been promoting his design since returning to live in NZ in 1999.
Since then his campaign has been developed and promoted largely with support from the Hawkes Bay business community. Local companies have backed his campaign and provided services and time to produce promotional material such as sticker, flyers, advertising and, of course, flags. Such great community support has only reinforced Jason's desire to see a more representative flag be adopted by New Zealand.
In the winter of 2000 Jason and Beata drove to Parliament in the "FLAGNZ -KIWIFLAG" van where he met PM Helen Clark. He presented her with one of the very first Flags to be produced and still hopes that one day this will appear above the Beehive.
Since then the design has appeared numerous times in the nation's newspapers as well as a couple of appearances on television - the latest of which was the Sunday TV show Oct 04, where the design was named as one of the "unofficial front runners". Jason says "the public must and will push one flag to the forefront during this campaign". He hopes to see a short list of 2-4 popular designs that will be presented to the public to choose from. He stresses that, in his view, the public must have an ample period of time (1-3 years or an election cycle) to get to know those flags on the short list and what they represent before a final vote is taken.