Today the process of changing or keeping the New Zealand flag got under way.
This would be the first time in history the public had a chance to have a say in the future of the national flag, the Flag Consideration Project's panel chairman Emeritus Professor John Burrows said.
The panel will select a shortlist of designs and the public will vote for a preferred alternative flag later this year.
Next year the public will vote to decide between that flag and the current one.
Members of the public can design the flag themselves and upload their design to www.flag.govt.nz from now until July 16.
