Red Peak closely resembles US firm's logo

UPDATED with comments from Red Peak campaigner Rowan Simpson. See end of story.

Aaron Dustin's "Red Peak" is suddenly looking less definitively Kiwi.

A couple of days ago on Twitter, Tauranga medical scientist Rosalie Crawford asked, "Anyone checked with Peak Engineering about NZ wanting their logo?"

Since 2008, North Carolina-based Peak Engineering & Design has been using a logo that's strikingly similar to the Red Peak, the alternative flag design that has gained momentum over the past week.

Yesterday, Peak Engineering owners Beth and Jeff Roach called the similarity "curious".

Peak Engineering's logo features a red triangle, a white chevron and two black triangles. Red Peak uses the same elements, but one of the black triangles is coloured blue.

The couple had been emailed by "a random New Zealand citizen" on Wednesday, who informed them of the lookalike situation.

Ms Roach said her company's logo was not trademarked and "I think, ultimately, we would grant a license to anybody willing to use it, and absolutely, the government of New Zealand, not a problem."

Nevertheless, this development may have taken the gloss off the campaign to have Red Peak included on the flag referendum ballot. It's possible we have hit peak Red Peak.

Rowan bites back
Red Peak campaigner Rowan Simpson tells NBR, " this is a non-story. The only interesting bit about it is that it seems somebody is clearly worried enough by the growing support for including this option to plant this sort of rubbish."

He adds, "I’m totally confused now - is this a left wing or right wing conspiracy? Maybe it's just a wide mix of people responding to good design and a good story and positively asking for choice."

"I’m not the designer, so not for me to comment on what inspired the design," Mr Simpson says. (Designer Aaron Dustin did not immediately respond ot NBR's request for comment.)

"[But] from what he has said and written I think it’s pretty clear that his design was based on the shapes and colours of taniko and tukutuku, and the existing flag."

If we’re going to rule out anything that loosely resembles an existing logo then that would spell trouble for the ferns, Mr Simpson adds.

To underline his point, the entrepreneur sends NBR a photo of this jaunty Kiwi Party Ware Paper Plates logo, which bears a strong resemblance to the Kyle Lockwood design in the final four.

Photo: Thomas Le Bas