A student's watercolour painting is now flying above Telford's Balclutha campus as the institution's official new flag.
Olivene de Jong, who is studying the New Zealand Certificate in Rural Animal Healthcare Assistance (Level 4) at Telford, won a student design competition to create the flag. She painted the original freehand on acrylic paper using watercolours, art pens and paint before it was adapted for production.
The design pulls together several threads of Telford's identity. The iconic stone homestead sits at its centre, a pathway leads outward from the building to represent students moving into rural industries, and Nugget Point and its lighthouse appear as a marker of the South Otago landscape. Agricultural and animal elements are woven through the design to reflect the range of programmes the campus offers.
"When designing the flag, I wanted to create something that represented Telford's history, its agricultural roots and the different areas of education that make Telford unique, while still looking simple and meaningful," de Jong said.
The flag made its first public appearance on September 8, when de Jong joined Telford Campus Manager Allan Roxburgh to raise it during a sod-turning ceremony marking the start of a major campus refurbishment. The event was attended by Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds, Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson, SIT Council Chair Rex Chapman, Deputy Chair Maree Howden, SIT Chief Executive Bharat Guha, and members of the Telford Farm Board.
De Jong, originally from Matamata, came to Telford after her high school careers adviser pointed her toward a Taster Camp in July 2025. "After attending the camp, I knew that Telford was somewhere I could see myself studying, and it gave me a good idea of what the hands-on learning environment would be like," she said.
It was her first flag design, though she has a long background in art. When the result came through, she said she was caught off guard.
"When I found out that my design had been chosen, I was honestly shocked and really excited. I didn't expect my design to be selected, so it was a really special moment to find out that something I had created would become part of Telford," she said.
"Telford has become an important part of my journey, and I'm proud that I have been able to contribute something creative and meaningful to the place where I am studying. It's really special knowing that the flag represents Telford and its students, and that I will be able to look back on it as a part of my time here."