Zinc oxide(ZnO) was sputtered on various glass and flexible substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate(PET) and polycarbonate(PC). A Q-switched $Nd:YVO_4$ laser with a wavelength of 1,064 nm was used for the direct etching of ZnO films. It was possible to obtain laser etched line patterns on the ZnO films on PC substrate at some specific laser beam conditions. In the flexible substrates, more thermal energy of laser beam is expected to be spreaded for the etching process.