Kiwis narrow down their new flag with final four designs revealed

Kiwis narrow down their new flag with final four designs revealed

THE final four alternative designs have been revealed as New Zealand considers changing its national flag.
Whittled down from a long list of 40, the Flag Consideration Panel unveiled the flag designs New Zealanders will get to rank in a referendum later this year.

Ferns dominate the designs, with three of the four options featuring one in some form.

There is a black and white silver fern, a silver fern on a red and blue background with the Southern Cross, a black and blue variation of the same design, and a black and white koru design.

Public decide ... Left, Silver Fern (Black & White) by Alofi Kanter and on the right Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue) by Kyle LockwoodSource:

Melbourne-based architect Kyle Lockwood has two designs in the top four.

The top ranked flag in the first referendum will then go head-to-head with the current flag in a second referendum in April next year.

A call for the public to submit their flag designs resulted in more than 10,000 being put forward.

In late 2015 the First referendum will be held for voters to rank their preferred alternative flag design and in April 2016 the second flag referendum, a run-off between the current flag and the top-ranked alternative will be held.