Flag of New Zealand

Flag origins

New Zealand’s flag has a dark blue field, the Union Jack in the upper left, and four red five-pointed stars with white borders on the right. According to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the blue recalls the surrounding sea and sky; the four stars represent the Southern Cross and New Zealand’s location in the South Pacific; and the Union Jack reflects historical ties as a British colony and dominion. The design underlying the present flag was adopted in 1869 and was created by British naval officer Albert Hastings Markham. It initially identified colonial government vessels, gradually became widely used on land, and was legally established as the national flag in 1902.

Flag story

New Zealand held referendums in 2015–2016 on whether to change the flag entirely. In the first referendum in 2015, voters chose a black, white and blue design featuring the native silver fern from five alternatives. The final referendum in 2016 asked voters to choose between the existing flag and the silver fern design. The existing flag received 56.6% and the alternative 43.2%, so the Union Jack and Southern Cross design was retained. New Zealand therefore came quite close, relatively recently, to adopting a completely different national flag.

Editorial notes and references

Edited by ABELHA WORKS. The English text translates the administrator-edited Japanese description. Legends should be distinguished from documented history. General reference links do not substantiate every statement in the text.

• New Zealand — general information on Wikipedia
• Japan MOFA: countries and regions (Japanese)

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