New Zealand unveils final four flag designs to be voted on by public

New Zealand has released its final list of four flag designs to be voted on in a public referendum in November.

Source: AAP

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New Zealand has released a final selection of four flag designs to be voted on by the public in November.

The flag finalists. Source: NZ government

A government-appointed panel selected the four designs (pictured above) from a longlist of 40 and unveiled them this morning.

All designs were selected from more than 10,000 submitted by the public.

The four shortlisted designs were:

• Silver Fern (Black and White) - by Alofi Kanter, from Auckland.
• Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue) - by Kyle Lockwood, from Wellington
• Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) - by Kyle Lockwood, from Wellington
• Koru - by Andrew Fyfe, from Wellington

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

Kiwis will vote on their favourite of the four in a public referendum in November.

A second referendum will be held in early 2016 to vote between the selected flag and the existing flag.

Public opinion in New Zealand is mixed about the idea of changing the flag, with many critical of the process’s $26 million price tag.

The shortlist has also met mixed reactions online: