Should New Zealand Change its flag?

[TragicMonkey]

I would be willing to design NZ a flag, for only a modest enormous fee. I would incorporate all my knowledge of NZ, which consists of watching "Outrageous Fortune", which I assume is a completely accurate documentary portrayal of typical NZ life.

 

[Information Analyst]

I would be willing to design NZ a flag, for only a modest enormous fee. I would incorporate all my knowledge of NZ, which consists of watching "Outrageous Fortune", which I assume is a completely accurate documentary portrayal of typical NZ life.

I would suggest some sort of Battletruck/Goodbye Pork Pie mash-up.

 

[Porpoise of Life]

A squigly silver/white fern leaf on a black background is a little reminiscent of the black flag with white shahada jihadi's use.

 

[Hawk one]

If New Zealand wants to keep being known as Australias's younger sibling, then no.

If New Zealand wants to show their own identity and stop being confused with Australia's flag, then yes.

Because minor differences aside, the fact that the flags will cause confusion should give a hint of how similar they are; to the point that it'll always take me a few seconds of having to remember which flag has what kind of bits; and I spent my childhood learning national flags for a fun pasttime. The small differences there are does -not- provide enough distinctiveness to claim it's only ignorance that causes confusion. Especially not when the flag's either small or seen from a bit of a distance.

 

[PhantomWolf]

If New Zealand wants to keep being known as Australias's younger sibling, then no.

If New Zealand wants to show their own identity and stop being confused with Australia's flag, then yes.

They actually copied our flag. Besides, they keep suggesting changing theirs, so if we wait a bit longer, they will and it'll be sorted.

 

[PhantomWolf]

for those having trouble....



Note. 5 Stars in Southern Cross, all white, 8 pointed, large one under the Jack. Thus Australian Flag.



Note 4 Stars in Southern Cross, Red with white border, 5 pointed, none under Jack. Thus NZ flag.

Bonus points to not mix these two up

 

[angrysoba]

If New Zealand wants to keep being known as Australias's younger sibling, then no.

If New Zealand wants to show their own identity and stop being confused with Australia's flag, then yes.

Because minor differences aside, the fact that the flags will cause confusion should give a hint of how similar they are; to the point that it'll always take me a few seconds of having to remember which flag has what kind of bits; and I spent my childhood learning national flags for a fun pasttime. The small differences there are does -not- provide enough distinctiveness to claim it's only ignorance that causes confusion. Especially not when the flag's either small or seen from a bit of a distance.

Well, if that is the criteria then either Ireland or Ivory Coast has to change its flag right now. Or tomorrow. Soon, anyway.

 

[angrysoba]

Bonus points to not mix these two up

My guess is the one on the left is Indonesia and the one on the right is Monaco.

Easy!

 

[TriangleMan]

South Africa managed to change our flag and in the process got rid of the Union Jack that was a part of it.

As did Canada in 1965. While it was controversial at the time I doubt you'd find today a lot of Canadians who would want to switch from the Maple Leaf back to the old flag with the Union Jack.

 

[TriangleMan]

Interesting results between Kiwis (proud to be a Kiwi mate) and foreigners.

Seems to worry the foreigners more by a large margin

Not worried per se. Take it from people from countries that have already gone down that road -- changing the flag can work out well. We're just letting you know.

 

[Loss Leader]

Not caring about any of this in the absolute least, I say the flag should be changed because it would be funny.

 

[Ginarley]

I'm a kiwi and I say no, and especially no to the ugly black with the fern, no way no how, nah uh. It is ugly as a flag, and way to engrained as the national sports emblem.

Why else do we need a flag other than sports events these days anyway? Perhaps the other place the flag becomes relevant is as a marketing tool for the country but almost all marketing of NZ happens through the silver fern, not the current flag, presumably because it is more recognisable. Most tourism based operations also focus their marketing on that symbol rather than the current flag (nz tourism even use the fern as their emblem).

It started as the emblem of the 1888 NZ Natives Rugby team, and then was adopted by the New Zealand National Team which would become the All Blacks. Since then other sports teams have taken similar ferns as a symbol, but the one you see most often is the All Black one, which also is trademarked by the NZRFU, another reason we shouldn't be using it.

That sounds like the kind of story school kids could learn off by heart at primary school so perfect for a national flag Better than the current story of a union jack because we had to and a southern cross because... well everyone in the hemisphere can see it so why not. As for the trademark, I doubt the NZRFU would fight that very hard, if anything it would reinforce their brand not steal from it. And failing that we could either legislate it into existence ignoring the NZRFU or redesign it subtly - it really isn't an impediment.

 

[Horatius]

our national symbol is the fern not the southern cross, and from a marketing perspective the silver fern is immediately recognisable even now to anyone who knows the country whereas the current flag is not. All told, I really can't see a downside to changing it.

So, it's kind of like a lame version of the Maple Leaf? D&R

 

[sackett]

Yes, my other native country should change its flag. It should incorporate a black star under the goose's wing, to honor the Coalsack.

And maybe get rid of the union jack too. After all, possibly the world's most beautiful flag is that of Alaska: just the Bear and Polaris, on the dark blue field of the old star-eaten blanket of the sky.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Why else do we need a flag other than sports events these days anyway?

You mean other then things such as flying it on Government buildings, for political events, as a standard for the military, for identifying NZ ships, and for state funerals? All things we really want to have associated with sport....

Perhaps the other place the flag becomes relevant is as a marketing tool for the country but almost all marketing of NZ happens through the silver fern, not the current flag, presumably because it is more recognisable. Most tourism based operations also focus their marketing on that symbol rather than the current flag (nz tourism even use the fern as their emblem).

No, marketing emblems and the flag are not required to be the same, and I'd suggest again it's a bad idea. Marketing emblems are generally trademarked by the organisation doing the marketing. Besides, we use the Kiwi silhouette in a lot of NZ marketing too, it's probably just as recognisable as an NZ emblem as the fern is. I wouldn't be going for that either. Reality shows that very few countries have their nation emblems, plant or animal, on their flags. There is no need for us to do it either.

That sounds like the kind of story school kids could learn off by heart at primary school so perfect for a national flag Better than the current story of a union jack because we had to and a southern cross because... well everyone in the hemisphere can see it so why not.

Yeah because the story of our shared heritage of British colonists and the Pacific peoples who used the stars to guide them coming together to live in this land is so much a worse story to tell kids about than, oh, we got from a rugby team.

As for the trademark, I doubt the NZRFU would fight that very hard, if anything it would reinforce their brand not steal from it. And failing that we could either legislate it into existence ignoring the NZRFU or redesign it subtly - it really isn't an impediment.

Actually I'd be highly surprised if they didn't fight it. Organisations spend a lot of time and money investing into their brands, and losing control of them means losing all of that hard work. If the black flag with silver fern was adopted, the NZRFU would lose total control of their trademark. Imagine just the loss of income in gear sales when rivals started selling black rugby jerseys and other merchandising all emblazoned with the "New Zealand Flag".

 

[mumblethrax]

Strictly from a design perspective, the NZ flag is a mess. It's almost as garish as the US flag. Red white and navy is a terrible color scheme, and it's just way too busy. Plus, the aforementioned similarity to the Australian flag (not to mention half a dozen dependencies).

Now Somalia, that's a flag. They must be doing something right over there!

 

[WildCat]

I think this is going to be a pretty boring poll really, since to my recollection, there are only about 7-8 kiwis on the forum.

That's like, what, 30% of the entire country?

 

[WildCat]

Now Somalia, that's a flag. They must be doing something right over there!

Nah, too much like Vietnam, just different colors.

Mozambique, now there's a flag with some balls!

 

[PhantomWolf]

That's like, what, 30% of the entire country?

Better watch out, the All Blacks are in Chicago at the moment, after they finish mopping the floor with the US Eagles at Soldier Park on Saturday, they might have a few minutes to deal with other cheeky Americans too.

 

[Howie Felterbush]

Better watch out, the All Blacks are in Chicago at the moment, after they finish mopping the floor with the US Eagles at Soldier Park on Saturday, they might have a few minutes to deal with other cheeky Americans too.

I don't know what an All Black is, but unless it's bulletproof, it doesn't stand a chance in Chicago.