Flag designs cause a flutter

Patricia Roberts from Poukawa came up with a concept for a new Kiwi flag in 2008 and says a Nelson man's submission is too similar to be coincidence. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay woman Patricia Roberts is seeing double after searching designs submitted for a new Kiwi flag.

Scrolling through flag.govt.nz something struck her as unusual. It appeared there was a design concept very similar to one she loaded on to her website in 2008.

Others featured "very specific" fern and koru patterns she says she spent years perfecting and had a copyright on. But those were not so much of a concern as the submission by Nelson man Philip Hickford.

A quick Google search came up with an article run by the Nelson Mail where he spoke about the design he claims to have created.

"To see one that was almost identical was mind blowing. At first I thought he must not realise," she said. "I assumed him to be a decent enough man who had maybe just misunderstood what he's allowed to do, or the details on the submission form."

Both flags featured a koru, fern and stars in the same placement, though the colours were different. Ms Roberts went for more traditional blue and black, while Mr Hickford opted to throw bright green, red and silver in the mix.

Ms Roberts started her website in 2005 as a place to feature flags she dreamed up and discuss pros and cons of switching the design. A phone call by Ms Roberts to Mr Hickford's rural South Island home this week did not resolve any issues, as he insisted the design was started on his first computer in the 1990s. She said he later "hung up" on her.

Several entries were featuring elements of other people's work, including Kyle Lockwood's distinctive fern.

"[They] are supposed to get permission from the designer but some get away with it by just acknowledging them in their write-up. However, this is something quite different.

"There's no way the flag submitted is his own design. It would be impossible to have a design that matches so exactly."

Patricia Roberts' flag concept:

Ms Roberts said the Nelson man's concept was just too similar to her own creation, which was last changed about three years ago.

When Hawke's Bay Today contacted Mr Hickford yesterday, he defended his flag's originality.

"I got my first desktop in 1998 and started messing around with flag designs. After that I finished it in roughly 2004," he said.

"Mine is totally independent. It's similar to many others on there, with minor variations."