So the Herald thought it would give Kiwis the chance to vote again, without spending $26 million.
Two referendums were held: one choosing the best flag design and a second to decide whether that design should replace the current flag.
The final four flags were chosen by the Flag Consideration Panel in Wellington after they were sent a mammoth 10,000 submissions earlier in the year. That was narrowed down to a long-list of 40 flag designs.
Now that the flag debate has been brought back in the spotlight, questions have been raised whether Kiwis have changed their minds about which new flag design they would choose.
Vote below:
Now the question that most of the public thought that should have been asked first, would you want a new flag design or believe we should stick with the current New Zealand flag?
Also from the 10,000 designs that were entered, there were also some hilarious offbeat flag ideas, such as the Laser Kiwi, that media had fun highlighting.
Here were some of the favourites with descriptions of the design.
"The laser beam projects a powerful image of New Zealand. I believe my design is so powerful it does not need to be discussed."
"That feel when our eyes gaze upon the flightless and majestic rare-Kiwi bird is a classic icon of NZ's deep relationship with our ancestors, their spirit, land and culture. Te Pepe Tamariki, Te Papa Aotearoa."
"This design represents all of NZ because we have lots of sheep and love hokey pokey ice cream. I even included the blue and red to keep all of you naysayers happy. Kiwi as bro."
"I believe it accurately represents the NZ people as hard working people from today on into the future."
Why not have some fun and vote for your favourite off-beat design (which should have totally made the final cut)?