Most people not open to change

One of the submissions for a new New Zealand flag.

Almost three-quarters of Bay locals are against a change to the New Zealand flag a Bay of Plenty Times Weekend survey has found.

The unscientific street survey of 100 people showed 72 per cent of locals did not want the flag changed.

We chose a selection of 15 flags and asked each person to select their preferred design.

The survey showed the most popular design was a black and blue design with the Silver Fern and a Southern Cross which received 48 per cent of total votes.

A similar design by Kyle Lockwood was the second most popular and received 25 per cent of votes.

Tauranga local Deb Hudson said the flag debate was "a bit of a waste of money".

"It could be put to better use, perhaps on social services and housing."

However, 28 per cent of people surveyed supported a change of the flag.

Tauranga local Gerard Brennan said the new flag should reflect the cultures here.

"I'd like to see the Union Jack off there and something a lot more contemporary."

Adam Lurman, of the Wave Creative Communications Agency, said a new flag needed to represent our past, present and future.

"Central to the design process is understanding the core essence of what it means to belong to the land we call Aotearoa New Zealand.

Deb Hudson says the flag debate is a waste of money.

"A strong colour palette combined with simple geometric shapes drawing inspiration from our cultural heritage would be a natural choice for me," added Mr Lurman.

However, the RSA said it would stand up to support the current flag being kept.

"The flag consideration panel says it will utilise the values and themes expressed by New Zealanders to evaluate the flag designs.

"Those values, including history and heritage, freedom and independence, are well represented by our current flag," RSA national president Barry Clark said.

An online survey by the New Zealand Herald in May found people favoured the same choice of flags as Bay of Plenty people.

Kyle Lockwood's Silver Fern flag was also the second most popular flag in the New Zealand Herald survey having received 23 per cent of votes.

In the Bay of Plenty Times survey, seven of the 15 designs did not receive any votes, with the most popular designs having traditional colours from the current flag.