A new flag?

Did you even know that New Zealand is working on changing its flag design?

Well it is and it has shortlisted four finalists. It wants to do away with the “old” national flag which had four red stars on a blue background with Great Britain’s Union Jack in the corner.  The stars indicated New Zealand’s location in the South Pacific and the Union Jack showed that in the past, it was British colony. Though its location has changed, it is no longer a British colony and it wants its national flag ti depict this new, New Zealand.

The four designs, three of which have ferns as the main theme and the fourth has a black and white koru - The koru (Māori for "loop") is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattoos.

The Govt had set up a panel for selecting these designs. Out of 10,300 entries received, it was brought down to 40 by the flag consideration panel. And from these 40, it was finally whittled down to 4. The good part – these four will now be put to vote. A national referendum will decide which flag design represents the national ethos best. This will be put for vote in November or early December to rank the four designs by order of preference. The winning design will then be put up against the current flag in a second referendum in March 2016.

Wow!  A new flag in today’s time and era? Sounds really path breaking. Well, our Indian flag is dynamic looking and completely explains the national ethos…so that’s surely one thing we don’t need to change!