Entries are invited from people of any age, anywhere, for a competition to select a flag for St Clair, Dunedin.

Background

Construction of The Hydro building on the Esplanade at St Clair began in 1924 and was completed in 1925. It is planned to mark the forthcoming centennial of the building with the creation of a distinctive flag to fly from its flagpole (other people or organisations associated with St Clair might also wish to use the flag and will be welcome to do so).

The judging panel for the competition is:

· Katherine Greer (convener) – trustee for The Hydro and managing director of Hydro Surf, she enjoys knitting and jewellery-making in her spare time

· Bill Brown – a retired resident of St Clair and sometime sculptor, he is a regular surf and pool swimmer at St Clair and an enthusiastic supporter of all things St Clair

· James Dignan – an artist, art reviewer, and musician who has lived close to St Clair Esplanade for the last 30 years, he is a keen flag collector and designer, and an administrator of the Flags of the World website and Facebook group

· Simon Kaan – he began working at the Hydro Surf Shop in 1986 as the first grommet, and since then has been surfing and making art all over the place

· Gregor Macaulay – a retired university administrator with a longstanding interest in heraldry and flags, he has been editor of the quarterly journal of the Heraldry Society of New Zealand since 2000 and designed the Otago flag adopted in 2004

· Patrick O’Neill – a cinematographer and still photographer and part of the St Clair surfing community, he and his wife lived throughout the 1970s in the Hydro building, which was also the venue for their daughter’s wedding in 2015.

The Competition – Terms and Conditions

· Entries must be submitted by email to katherine@hydrosurf.co.nz no later than 20 November 2023 with artwork in vector format as an AI, EPS, or PDF file, and all text converted to outlines.

· All entries must be accompanied by the designer’s name, school attended (if applicable), and an email address and/or telephone number.

· A prize package consisting of vouchers for $250 from the Esplanade Restaurant, $250 from Hydro Surf, and $500 for accommodation at the Hydro Esplanade Apartments, together with a physical flag, will be awarded to the designer of the winning entry.

· The winner will relinquish all rights over the winning entry which will become available for public use. Acceptance of this is a condition of entry.

Guidelines for Entrants

The flag should be rectangular and in the proportions of the New Zealand flag (2x1).

When designing a flag, a good idea is to look at other flags – they will often help. There are a few general rules of thumb widely considered by flag enthusiasts to be key to a good flag design:

· A flag should use a small number of colours, ideally just two, three or four.

· Flags need to be simple enough to be drawn easily from memory – could a child reproduce the design well enough for it to be recognisable? Simple shapes are generally preferred.

· Limit yourself to one or two objects on the flag rather than cluttering it up.

· A flag is usually seen from a distance, and often hanging rather than blowing in the breeze, and is seen in all sorts of lighting. It needs to be clear enough to be recognised in all conditions.

· A flag should get across what it represents without using words or numbers.

· The flag should be unique and distinctive.

A St Clair flag could possibly include design elements referring to one or more of the following: heraldic devices of St Clair/Sinclair families, water, sea, sunshine, surfing, the shark warning bell, local flora or fauna or geological features, aspects of local history – but there may well be other things that could appropriately be depicted.

Other Information

· Feel free to share this information with anyone else who might be interested.

· Any questions should be emailed to katherine@hydrosurf.co.nz.