Over 1,400 individual entries has been received in the competition to design a new Fiji flag.
The Chairman of the National Flag Committee, Iliesa Delana. Photo: Fiji government
The flag change was announced earlier this year by the Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who said Fiji would remove the Union Jack and replace it with a design that symbolises the Pacific nation, not former colonial power Britain.
A surge of late entries saw the total number lodged with Fiji's Department of Information climb from more than 580 late Thursday to 1,430 when the deadline closed at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon.
The Chairman of the National Flag Committee, the Assistant Minister for Sport, Iliesa Delana, says the remaining members of the National Flag Committee will now be chosen and begin the task of sifting through the entries.
He says the competition has clearly captured the imagination of a great many people and demonstrates solid public support for the flag change.
Meanwhile, the opposition, which has said the process has been undemocratic, yesterday submitted a petition with 2,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the change alongside the entries.
