New Zealand certainly packs a punch far beyond its weight with sporting superstars and stunning landscapes.

NEW Zealanders have been presented with 40 flag options as the country moved a step closer towards voting on whether it wanted to change its national standard.

The government-appointed panel overseeing the project released its longlist of designs, chosen from more than 10,000 public submissions.

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News_Image_File: The silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) has featured on the national rugby team jersey since the 1880s and figures prominently in the designs.

The 40 will now be subject to further scrutiny, including an intensive intellectual property review, before being whittled down to four to be put to a public vote later this year.

News_Image_File: The southern cross is seen in a variety of configurations in the proposed designs.

A second referendum is planned for next year when the country will choose between the existing flag — which features Britain’s Union Jack — and the most popular new design.

News_Image_File: The designs also include horizons, wave formations and other more figurative elements.

Project head John Burrows said the potential new flag had to be unmistakably from New Zealand and “celebrate us as a progressive, inclusive nation that is connected to its environment, and has a sense of its past and vision for its future”.

News_Image_File: The red, white and blue of the current flag lingers in some designs, while other proposed flags feature much simpler colour schemes.

“It is important that those designs are timeless, can work in a variety of contexts, are simple, uncluttered, balanced and have good contrast.”

News_Image_File: The Union Jack survives, albeit in a vastly different form, in one proposed design (top left).

Common themes among the 40 flag offerings are silver ferns, the symbol used by New Zealand sports teams, and the Southern Cross constellation. Colour schemes are predominantly red, black or blue, and white.

News_Image_File: A simple silver fern motif (top left) is the preferred design of Prime Minister John Key.

Prime Minister John Key, who has pushed for a change, favours a silver fern design to replace the existing flag, which has the Union Jack in the top left corner and four red stars representing the Southern Cross constellation on a dark blue background.

News_Image_File: 40 shades of flags ... New Zealanders will make a final choice on adopting a new flag next year.

Many New Zealanders who took to social media to comment on the flag designs questioned whether the issue was important enough to justify the NZ$26 million (US$17 million) price tag.

The Flag Panel wants a flag that is unmistakably New Zealand. We want a Head of State that is unmistakably New Zealand. — New Zealand Republic (@nzrepublic) August 10, 2015

First the flag, now the national anthem. Are we having an identity crisis New Zealand? #nzflag #politics #nzanthem — Tim Freeman (@ponderingchimp) July 29, 2015