Horse 1991 - New Zealand Goes To The Polls To Select The WRONG Flag.

https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/the-four-alternatives/
Here are the four flag designs that eligible voters will rank in the first binding postal referendum this year, between 20 November and 11 December.
From the 10,292 alternative designs suggested to the Panel, four have been selected to be ranked by New Zealand in the first binding referendum this year.
- The four alternatives, The NZ Government Te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa

These are the four flags (with the possible addition of one more) which are to be put to the people of New Zealand in a referendum to change the national flag. Now I'm not saying that of themselves they aren't lovely but I am suggesting that due to meddling on high, they are all the wrong flag which should be submitted. I would have thought that to everyone in the world who has more than half a dozen working brain cells that the only option which should be put in the referendum is this:

Look, the way I see it, the New Zealand flag committee had one job and that was to faff about for a while and then submit a black flag with a silver fern on it. That was it. Guard New Zealand's triple star from the from the shafts of strife and war, whatever. Story. End of. Referendum. Done.

The whole point of having a national flag originally was to mark your ships, armies and territory so that it could easily been seen at a distance. Flags began life as identifiers so that an army didn't accidentally kill their comrades. All of that changed quite some time ago and camouflage on the modern battlefield basically ensures that no one has any idea who anyone else is. This means that the only use of flags in a modern context is either for diplomatic ends, or reasons of national pride or propaganda. Politicians love to conduct interviews whilst standing in front of as many flags as they possibly can and a national flag can indicate that some diplomat is staying somewhere.
This means that the only common use of flags is one of national pride and this usually happens, not on the battlefield but the sporting field. To this end, New Zealand which as a little nation who sensibly doesn't fight in many wars that aren't its concern, punches well above its weight. If it wasn't for the rugby, cricket and netball teams and maybe the odd appearance in the Olympics and in other endeavours like motor racing, New Zealand would be happily hidden under its long white cloud, going to the dairy and buying a packet of pineapple lumps, and the rest of the world would be totally oblivious to its existence. Because these four flags don't really scream 'New Zealand!' as loudly as the black flag with the silver fern, although they might display all the qualities of good flag design, they are less than useless.

Had that gone to a referendum it would have been game over. Instead, the NZRU have claimed copyright on it and have made a right pig's breakfast of the whole thing. What the NZRU should have done is stand aside and admit that the silver fern on black transcends rugby and just admitted that even they are too small to control the fate and destiny of a nation but no, they had to go and ruin it all for everyone. Thank you New Zealand Rugby, I'm about to confer the worst insult that I can possibly think of upon you - you behaved like a pack of Australians.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also showed that he has the spine of a jellyfish when he said that he was happier that the black flag wasn't chosen because it resembled ISIS. Guess what, John Key? The terrorists have won. Yes ISIS is, as our now deposed PM Tony Abbott said with alarming frequency, a 'death cult' but they will pass.
New Zealand as an independent dominion has been around for 108 years and the existing flag has been around longer than even Australia's. ISIS will probably not be around beyond the end of the decade because of internal squabbles and splintering. The All Blacks have been part of the story of the land of the long white cloud since 1905 their New Zealandiness has shaped the character of the nation, no matter how much they complain about their right to copyright now. As PM, the Key Government could have told the NZRU to stand aside and told ISIS that New Zealand is not afraid but instead, we've just been given whimpering on a grand scale.

These other four flags are okay I suppose but are they the best possible flag for the nation? No. They are as I suspect, flags chosen by a committee because they have in mind, the purpose of losing the referendum. Now I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories by given the level of acrimony, bile, acid and gall which was thrown about in the Canadian Parliament before they finally settled on the correct flag for Canada, I wonder if when faced with the problem that the flag committee wasn't allowed to pick the correct and proper flag for New Zealand, whether or not they haven't just decided to throw all the toys out of the pram and chuck a tantrum. If any of the four designs proposed actually gets up against the current national flag, then I don't see another flag referendum coming up for a very long time; if they happen to win, then the new New Zealand flag will be the subject of well deserved derision forever.

The only proper and sensible choice for the New Zealand flag is the Silver Fern on a black background and that's it.

Unless New Zealand decides to go with another flag which is so utterly and delightfully bonkers that it broke the space-time continuum, just like this link - http://a/%%30%30

https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/gallery/design/10026
Deranged cat raking its garden
Designed by: Jeong Hyuk Fidan from Canterbury

Who doesn't love a cat that rakes its own garden?

Exactly.