Which One Gets Your Vote?

[ichkeria]

Finalists in the New Zealand Flag competition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34111928

[ToraToraTora]

All predictably dull, what's wrong with the current flag? what's happened have they been taken over by the Answerbank anti British faction or something?

[mikey4444]

I like the one on the far right, but what was wrong with the present one ?

[Togo]

If the current flag is to go. I hope they choose the walnut whip.

[ichkeria]

One reason cited is confusion with the Australian flag.
And no doubt dissatisfaction with having the Union flag on there too, which I can understand. All these things divide opinion however.
I do like all of them, actually, but it's interesting that the response has been muted.

[mikey4444]

Not sure what is wrong with having a small Union flag on it ?

[mikey4444]

Hawaii still has a union flag on theirs, and 1776 is a very long time ago now !

[237SJ]

The third one from the left.

[ichkeria]

What can I say?
New Zealand is not Hawaii. You'd have to ask the New Zealanders. Having a flag that is very like and easily confused with your larger neighbour, AND having the union flag which no doubt to many, not necessarily "anti_British", may compound a sense that they don't really have something distinctive of their own....

[jno]

that sounds about right, ichkeria. The idea of having a flag that incorporates someone else's is a bit 19th-century.

Having said that, black flags are for pirates. You shouldn't have a national flag modelled on a rugby team.

[EDDIE51]

I agree that the current NZ flag is very much like Oz one
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=new+zealand+flag&es_sm=93&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&;ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIkKb0ptDWxwIVDCDbCh2WTgbH#tbm=isch&q=new+zealand+flag+vs+australian+flag&imgrc=N0COzIAR81fLyM%3A
Causes a lot of confusion

[EDDIE51]

That was supposed to show the 2 flags , so here is the Oz one.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=australia+flag&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMInfbj29HWxwIVBo7bCh3RWQNQ&biw=675&bih=639#imgrc=zDvPknmxTAw3FM%3A

[jno]

for Australia, I think the smaller stars represent the states and the big one represents the Commonwealth. For NZ it's just the four main stars of the Southern Cross.

I was with some Aussies once when they saw a NZ flag and thought it was their own. Mortified when someone pointed it out to them.

[jno]

this was the longlist

http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1453007/new-zealand-flag.jpg

I like the white-on-green one in the second last line myself.

[EDDIE51]

I had a teacher from NZ, she found that the flag in a school textbook ,was the Oz flag but the book said it NZ.

[jno]

yes, pretty daft having confusables like that. Mind you, a lot of European flags are quite similar. Chad and Romania are identical, for some reason.

http://flags.wikia.com/wiki/VexiWiki:Articles/Similar_national_flags

[-Talbot-]

One missing from that similar flags list.

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

[melv16]

Put a sheep on it, like the Welsh flag;-)

[-Talbot-]

You might get lambasted for that idea, melv.

[ichkeria]

Chad, Romania and Andorra in fact are all identical
I think given that It's New Zealand, a rugby connection to the flag is understandable

[jno]

their rugby may not last forever - the country doesn't really have the money to keep up with the professional game in Europe so sooner or later it will lose players. Then a black flag will start to look like that stupid tattoo you had done when you were 18.