Government rejects calls to add Red Peak flag to shortlist

The flag’s Facebook page has attracted more than 10,000 followers in just two days and an online petition to make it the fifth official choice has collected more than 8000 signatures.

The Flag Consideration Panel has faced significant backlash since it revealed the final four, with many saying Red Peak, by designer Aaron Dustin, should be on the list.

The petition calls for Red Peaks to be added as a fifth option to the current shortlisted four designs.

“We can’t go and change that”.

He said if Red Peak were to be included, that would mean either a law change, or dropping one of the other four options, which he was not prepared to consider.

Mr Key denied it was a “diabolical problem” to the flag referendum, and the PM’s hopes to change the flag. ACT leader David Seymour, who championed the law change to allow pubs to open to screen Rugby World Cup games, is also putting his support behind Red Peak.

The silver fern and the Southern Cross are also key symbols in New Zealand culture.

More than half of those polled (55%) said the silver fern should feature, either on its own or alongside another symbol. A further 15 per cent chose the silver fern on its own.

Kiwis are set to vote on their preferred flag design in a public referendum in November.

“Perhaps if there were a million people in a march, but I think it’s highly unlikely anything could change the government’s mind in time for the printing of the ballot”. Some 53% were opposed to change in principle. Then in 2016, another referendum will be held to decide whether to scrap the existing flag and replace it with the victor.

The hashtag #RedPeak was trending in New Zealand overnight. “It represents the New Zealand I want to live in, one with a deep history and a bright future”.

It incorporates New Zealand’s mountainous geography, the fact New Zealand is one of the first countries to see the dawn, and the Maori myth of Ranguinui and Paptuanuku.

The Flag Consideration Panel has selected four designs which have been approved by the Cabinet.

Speaking on breakfast radio on Monday, Mr Simpson conceded it was “a really long shot” that Red Peak could be added at the last minute, but argued the final four were too similar and tiresome.