The official long list for New Zealand’s new flag design has been presented to the public.

The 40 designs were plucked from over 10,000 submissions, and feature common themes of the silver fern (often used by NZ sports teams) and colour combinations of red, blue and back.

Once the long list has been scrutinised for any legal or intellectual property issues, a shortlist of four designs will be voted on by the public later this year.

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In 2016, New Zealanders will go to a referendum and choose between the winning design and their old flag, which features the British Union Jack and bears no small similarity to the Australian flag.

According to the project’s leader John Burrows, the 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”.

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

Some New Zealanders have questioned whether the $26 million exercise is worth it, particularly if a referendum finds that the public is happy with its old flag.

While the 40 flags on the long list bear many of the same elements, some of the original submissions were a bit more boundary-pushing.

In one design, a kiwi bird (the national animal) was seen with laser eyes, while in another, the kiwi had grown a unicorn horn.

The long list of 40 flag designs will be whittled down to four. Photo: Govt.nz