The Laser Kiwi flag, originally titled Fire the Lazer, was designed in 2015 by Lucy Gray as a proposed flag of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for the

2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums Two New Zealand flag referendums were held by the New Zealand Government in November/December 2015 and March 2016 to determine the nation's flag. The voting resulted in the retention of the current flag of New Zealand. Shortly after the refer ...

. It has since become a social media phenomenon that has created ongoing interest in the design.

Background

The Laser Kiwi flag was created by Lucy Gray (see bio below) in 2015 as a proposed flag of New Zealand. During the

, the Laser Kiwi flag became a large social media phenomenon, and was used in comedy routines by comedians, such as

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

, discussing the flag referendum and New Zealand in general. The flag features a New Zealand fern and a

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also refe ...

shooting a green

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

beam from its eyes. The description of the flag was that "the laser beam projects a powerful image of New Zealand. I believe my design is so powerful it does not need to be discussed." It was often joked by comedians that if the flag was to become the official flag of New Zealand, it would cause "fear" in New Zealand's enemies. After the referendum, the flag's popularity made a "comeback" as it became widely available as a

consumer product A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but t ...

, and is often seen at events such as

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or musical band, band. Concerts are held in a w ...

across and outside of

Lucy Gray

Lucy Gray (born ) is from

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

and works as an audio-visual technician. She was a member of the youth wing of

ACT New Zealand ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...

and stood in the 2014 general election in the electorate under her birth name. Ranked 28th on the party's list and receiving 0.55% of the electorate vote, she was not elected. She left the party in 2017. Gray moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

following her parliamentary candidacy. She produced her flag design in

Microsoft Paint Microsoft Paint is a simple raster graphics editor that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. The program opens and saves files in Windows bitmap (BMP), JPEG, GIF, PNG, and single-page TIFF formats. The program can be in ...

during an evening. Inspired by the many "deadly animals" in Australia, she took a Kiwi icon and turned it into a deadly animal. When the initial four chosen options were released for the first stage of the New Zealand flag referendums, Gray stated that she was "uninspired" by the designs as they "didn't derive much meaning" for her. Gray is transgender and transitioned after her ACT candidacy.

References

{{New Zealand flags Flags introduced in 2015 Proposed flags of New Zealand Laser art Fictional kiwi 2015 in New Zealand Flags displaying animals