New Zealand's 113-year-old flag will win next year's binding referendum, according to an online poll, but the March vote could be close.

Preliminary results of the first referendum on the new flag are in. Here's what you need to know about what happens next.

Kyle Lockwood was walking home to his flat in Melbourne last night when the news came through on his mobile phone.

The design that will compete to be New Zealand's national flag is set to be revealed tonight.

MIKE HOSKING: Don't write the flag referendum off as a vanity project or a waste of money. Give it the kudos it deserves.

The Electoral Commission said that as of the end of yesterday, 1,256,163 voting papers for the first referendum had been received

Both Key and Malcolm Turnbull have embraced causes not normally associated with conservatism.

Expatriate Kiwis are more likely to favour changing the flag than people still living in NZ - but they are much less keen on abandoning the monarchy.

COMMENT: The flag debate shows the sad truth that John Key does not care for history.

Two thirds of people want to keep the current flag according to a poll taken just before the first flag referendum voting papers arrived in letterboxes.

Has the flag debate already been decided for us by a Shanghai fruit distributor? The internet thinks so.

After a year of heated debate, the public is finally getting its first say on what could be a new national flag.

The first flag referendum begins tomorrow giving New Zealanders the chance to vote on five alternative designs

Word on the streets of Auckland: Should the New Zealand flag be changed?

Next week everyone of voting age will receive an official envelope inviting us to select a new flag. The sight of a voting form can be sobering.

The All Blacks' Rugby World Cup victory and a royal visit could have a bearing on the upcoming flag referendum, an expert says.

It's less about the flag and more about John Key. That's the conclusion from UMR Research's poll this week. The flags aren't driving the choice: politics is.

Rich male university graduates and Wellingtonians are the only groups in a new in-depth survey showing any sympathy for changing the NZ flag.

"Flying the five alternatives as well as the current NZ flag provides an opportunity for Wellingtonians to compare each when they are fluttering in a brisk capital breeze,"

Kiwis have spent the past few months wrestling over which design is best for New Zealand's next potential flag - but how much do we actually know about our current one? In a video produced by Massey University, senior research officer Malcolm Mulholland tracks the origins of New Zealand's Blue Ensign years before it was formally approved in the late 1860s. "Our current flag came into being in 1869, but the origins of the flag actually happened earlier." Kiwis will be asked to choose their preferred flag of the five alternative options in a referendum opening next month, before deciding between the chosen design and the current flag in a second referendum in March. Supplied: Massey University

The flag consideration project may not have thrown up the best in design, but the institute's Best Design Awards next week will.

Flag designer who dipped out on the shortlist claims to have signed the petition by signing up as broadcasters and NZ First leader Winston Peters.

A flag designer who dipped out on the shortlist claims to have conned the Red Peak petition, signing up as broadcasters Mike Hosking, Duncan Garner and Paul Henry and NZ First leader Winston Peters. Grant McLachlan has provided evidence to prove his claim, with video footage showing him repeatedly signing up as himself and the four household names. Supplied: Grant McLachlan

The deal to save the Red Peak will lose votes for all involved as Kiwis living outside the political world do not care for it, says Winston Peters.