New Zealand shortlists 4 new flag designs to be put to national vote

New Zealand on Tuesday unveiled a shortlist of four flags, which will be voted on in the coming months in a national referendum and may replace its century-old national flag.

A national referendum to be conducted from Nov. 20 for three weeks will see voters asked to rank their preferred design based on the four shortlisted by the government-appointed Flag Consideration Panel.

Three of the four designs feature the silver fern, a New Zealand native plant, in various colors.

The multiple points of the fern leaf represents New Zealand’s peaceful multicultural society, and the single fern spreading upwards represents that New Zealanders are all one people growing onward into the future, according to a description given about the flag design on a New Zealand government website.

The fourth design features a black-and-white koru, a symbol of creation often used in Maori art, and is based on the shape of an unfurling fern frond. The koru represents new life, growth, strength and peace, according to the description.