Venkat Raman –
The Competition for a design for a new National Flag is now open.
A government notification said that anyone can participate in the competition, and that the design can be submitted in electronic or physical format but in colour.
Entries to the competition will close on Friday, May 1, 2015.
“We encourage young people and school students to participate in this creative competition, which will determine a new Flag for our country. Contestants do not need a computer programme or be professional designers,” the notification said.
It also said that contests can use computers and scanners available at 12 government-owned Telecentres throughout Fiji.
“Experts will be present to assist contestants,” the notification said.
Judicious combination
In a report published in our February 15, 2015 issue, Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama had said that the new Flag should reflect Fiji’s position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state.
“The existing Flag is widely loved and admired and I want to stress that this initiative is in no way a repudiation of it or the warm sentiments we all feel whenever it is raised. It has served us well since our Independence in 1970. Our United Nations peacekeeping troops have fought and sometimes died under it. Our sportsmen have stood before it as they achieved some of the greatest and most inspirational victories in our sporting history,” he said.
All envelopes or packets carrying the entries should be superscribed, ‘Design for New Flag Competition’ and be hand-delivered, posted or sent by email.
Hand-delivery: Ground Floor, New Wing Government Buildings, 26 Gladstone Road, Suva
Post: P O Box 2225, Government Buildings, Suva
Email: newfijiflag@gmail.com
