Story: Flags

In 2004, the NZFlag.com trust mounted a campaign to change the New Zealand flag. The trust organised a petition with the aim of gathering at least 270,000 signatures, enough to force a citizens-initiated referendum on the topic. However, only 100,000 signatures were collected. Here, campaign manager Iona Pannett is pictured in 2005 with some suggestions for a new flag alongside the current flag. Referendums on the flag in 2015 and 2016 resulted in the retention of the current flag.