Note: This post lists the flag designs that are most popular with the general public. For my own judgement on the best proposals, see this post.

When I was thinking of designs for the New Zealand flag competition, I was curious about the preferences of the wider public. No doubt others are too. Unfortunately, polls had a limited selection of designs to begin with, and while the government gallery had social media sharing and suggestions for every submitted flag, there was no way to sort the gallery to show the most popular.

So I made a quick Java script to scrape all entries in the website and identify the most popular flags. This is measured in number of times each design was independently suggested. Ten was the minimum number to get on this list.

Keep in mind that popularity does not equal quality, nor is it a final indicator of public preferences. It is affected by many factors like age, status and prior exposure of the design. Obviously, this list is biased towards well-known older designs rather than newer designs even if they’re great. This list is simply for interest of the data itself.

Flags are listed in ascending order of popularity. Each one lists the three main points of the respondents.

7. Silver Fern Flag – Kyle Lockwood’s ‘New Zealand Colours’

Suggestions: 13

• Similar to current flag
• Black and white are national colours. Silver fern is national symbol. These are already recognised worldwide and have historical significance.
• Māori represented by black (I think this is a reference to the Tino Rangatiratanga flag which includes black?)

6. Heritage Minimalist

Suggestions: 14

• Simple
• Similar to current flag
• Inoffensive

5. Alternative New Zealand Flag Design

Suggestions: 17

• Similar to current flag
• Red, white and blue recalls British colours.
• Silver fern is national symbol. This is already recognised worldwide and has historical significance.

4. Koru Flag

Suggestions: 19

• Environmental symbolism
• Māori represented by black (I think this is a reference to the Tino Rangatiratanga flag which includes black?)
• Simple

3. Haki Pango

Suggestions: 20

• Retains link to the United Kingdom*
• Not a radical change
• Black relates to national colours and Māori (I think this is a reference to the Tino Rangatiratanga flag which includes black?)

*The fact that St. Andrew’s Cross is no longer present is apparently not an issue. I guess we’re substituting for Cornish representation? xD

2. Silver Fern Flag – Kyle Lockwood’s Original

Suggestions: 22

Same as #5, but with a chunkier silver fern.

1. United Tribes

Suggestions: 28

• Has historical value
• Represents independence
• Agreed on by both British and Māori*

*Well, only the Māori in the Northland, but that’s a discussion for another time.