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New Zealand's new flag might be Silver Fern (Red, White, and Blue)

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Where are my voting papers, m8s?

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Sorry
 
I vote to keep the monarch as head of state of Australia until Liz abdicates or carks it.

I also put forward to motion that we bury Tony Abbott alive with her when she dies, but I realise that may be a little controversial.

I'll abolish the monarchy but only as a package deal where we merge with NZ.
 

Navid

Member
No 1: Looks nice and has a clean look to it. Arguably might be a bit too simple for some.

No 2: Can't help but think of Pepsi/NBA logo and all their variations that are out there, which kinda ruins this one for me.

No 3: This just look like some terrible company logo rather than a National flag.

No 4: Nice in between mix of the current flag and what they are looking for in the new flag, can't help but feel a bit cluttered though due to the random use of colours.

Personally No 1 is my preferred one out of the above, it might be even better if they added the 4 stars in a simple black colour to it as well? EDIT: Looking at the 3D rendered version No 4 works better than I expected, so that my preferred one now.
 
Most of the states in the union need to change their flag.
Hawaii is kind of an odd one, because we had New Mexico, Arizona, and Alaska back-to-back with bad-ass unique flags right before it. That said, Hawaii still beats the overwhelming majority of the US I'd say. They really are mostly shit.
 

Khaz

Member
2 looks the best. I liked 1 and 4 more at first because of the black colour, but when the flag is actually floating, next to others, having it mostly black makes it just sad and boring. I have no idea why 3 is a thing, the swirl just looks random.

[edit] By 2 I meant the red and blue with the white fern.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
Watch this:

https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mar...signed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en

And you'll see why of those choices, the peak one is the best.

Thanks for sharing this. Very eye-opening. As a resident of Milwaukee I was pretty horrified to realize how abhorrent our city flag actually is. Wow. That thing should not be allowed to exist. That also got me looking at a lot of other city and state flags and realizing how across the board terrible a lot of flag design actually is. That talk totally reinforced my feeling that all of these proposed NZ designs are poor. And this is a flag that is going to be shared on a global level. I actually feel kind of bad for NZ and wish they had a proper symbolic and less superfluously intricate option to choose.
 
2 looks the best. I liked 1 and 4 more at first because of the black colour, but when the flag is actually floating, next to others, having it mostly black makes it just sad and boring. I have no idea why 3 is a thing, the swirl just looks random.

[edit] By 2 I meant the red and blue with the white fern.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koru

I wish we could pick the Tino rangatiratanga:
ArRcREl.png


As it is, I think I'll vote for the black/white fern for the first question and then to keep the current flag for the second. I'm basically hoping that they throw away the current five awful options, take the hint and try again, this time with some good flags that feature the silver fern. The designer of the All Blacks logo offered to redesign them, so take him up on his offer.
 

polg

Member
Red-Peak-NZ-Flag-Facebook-page.jpg


OP needs to be updated with the 5th official option.

RED PEAK FOR LIFE!

ps: please vote for red peak, the superior option
 

Mr. Tibbs

Member
Red-Peak-NZ-Flag-Facebook-page.jpg


OP needs to be updated with the 5th official option.

RED PEAK FOR LIFE!

ps: please vote for red peak, the superior option

That's what I picked! :)

The Koru would be my next choice. The tired silver fern imagery just reminds me of New Zealand's obsession with niche sports. :(
 
That's what I picked! :)

The Koru would be my next choice. The tired silver fern imagery just reminds me of New Zealand's obsession with niche sports. :(

SMH. The level of ignorance you have to have to label our national sports (especially cricket, the second most popular sport on the planet, but rugby too) "niche" or not know how important the silver fern is to Maori and NZ culture is pretty mind boggling. I mean fuck, where do you think the Koru comes from?

That particular fern design is trade marked and used by the All Blacks, that's why none of the ferns on the flag options look like that.

As I said earlier though, the All Blacks logo designer offered to design one for the flag. An offer the government should've accepted long before we got to any referendum because the current designs suck.
 

Mr. Tibbs

Member
SMH. The level of ignorance you have to have to label our national sports (especially cricket, the second most popular sport on the planet, but rugby too) "niche" or not know how important the silver fern is to Maori and NZ culture is pretty mind boggling. I mean fuck, where do you think the Koru comes from?

LOL! I was talking about Netball!

I never said the fern wasn't important to New Zealand culture. The way the ferns have been represented on the three flags just remind me of sports logos, ala the Silver Ferns. They're deadly dull and completely predictable.
 

NZNova

Member
As I said earlier though, the All Blacks logo designer offered to design one for the flag. An offer the government should've accepted long before we got to any referendum because the current designs suck.

Yes, the fern has a lot of cultural associations, but a white fern in the middle of a solid black background is pretty heavily tied to the all blacks at this point. As someone who doesn't give a shit about rugby, having what is essentially the all blacks logo as our national flag isn't particularly appealing to me personally. I'd rather keep what we have now than switch to that.
 
LOL! I was talking about Netball!

I never said the fern wasn't important to New Zealand culture. The way the ferns have been represented on the three flags just remind me of sports logos, ala the Silver Ferns. They're deadly dull and completely predictable.

Netball? It's not really that popular and besides, what female sports aren't niche?

As for the ferns, I disagree. I don't think any NZ sports admins would approve such ugly silver fern designs in their logos.

Yes, the fern has a lot of cultural associations, but a white fern in the middle of a solid black background is pretty heavily tied to the all blacks at this point. As someone who doesn't give a shit about rugby, having what is essentially the all blacks logo as our national flag isn't particularly appealing to me personally. I'd rather keep what we have now than switch to that.

That's your (incredibly ignorant IMO) association, not everyone's. Sure, the All Blacks were the first to adopt it (mainly because Thomas Ellison, the captain at the time, was Maori), but it wasn't that long before the military did too, with the Coat of Arms, police, fire brigade and a range of other NZ services following soon after. To me and most NZers, the silver fern represents NZ, and most importantly, represents both Pakeha and Maori. Compare that with the current flag, which has always stood for colonialism.
 
Searched up what you meant by this

450px-Flag_of_Hawaii.svg.png


This is weirdness I cannot comprehend

I may not have made myself completely clear, the flag in the picture is the Eureka Flag, a flag first flown by a rebellion of Gold Miners in Ballarat Australia in the 1850's. It was also flown at the formation of the Australian Labour Movement that closely proceeded the formation of the Australian Labor Party, the nominally "less right" of the two major parties.

It's a fantastic flag, deeply evocative of standing up to authority and mateship, all the good stuff Pollies say are uniquely Australian qualities, but really aren't. Having the history attached to it would make it a great replacement for the current Australian flag but it's deep political roots to only one side of politics would ruin those chances.

As far as I'm aware it has nothing to do with Hawaii.
 
If they have any balls they'll choose for a flag that doesn't ALSO have the colors red, white and blue in it, we have plenty of those crap generic flags.

Honestly every country should get a new flag more unique flag, there'd be some confusion for a while but it'll work out better in the end.
 

Pila

Member
My personal fav is the first one. I had no idea you guys were debating over a new flag, cool.

I'd love to visit NZ, it looks awesome and my country is the biggest kiwi producer worldwide so I guess I should pay a visit to the kiwi motherland. ^^
 

Apt101

Member
For a country that seems almost magical from an outsider's perspective, those flags seem pretty mundane. I'm not expecting a phoenix-like kiwi taking flight over Mount Doom upon fiery wings, but something more.
 

NZNova

Member
To me and most NZers, the silver fern represents NZ, and most importantly, represents both Pakeha and Maori.

Oh, please. I did point out that yes, the silver fern has a lot of cultural meaning. I was referring specifically to the style of white fern on a solid black background being strongly tied to the all blacks to me personally as a reason why I find it not a particularly appealing look for a flag.

Your language of "to me and most NZers" reeks of argumentum ad populum. Speak for yourself, don't claim to speak for your country. Also, calling someone ignorant for their personal opinion on the desirability of a flag design is completely irrelevant to the argument at hand.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
I think Savitar was talking about the one that actually won. It is, indeed, an ugly ass flag. New Zealand fucked up.
 
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