New Zealand flag

New Zealand flag
	; ;
Vexillological symbol :	?
Aspect ratio:	1: 2
Officially accepted:	June 12, 1902

The New Zealand flag has been in use in its current form since 1869. It became the official national flag of the Pacific state with the New Zealand Ensign Act on June 12, 1902 . The flag is based on the British Blue Ensign .

Description and meaning

construction

Construction of the New Zealand flag.

The flag can be divided into two areas, which are on a dark blue background:

The Union Jack , the flag of the former colonial power Britain , is located in the front upper corner of the New Zealand flag and ensures their Gösch . The use of the Union Jack symbolizes the loyalty to the United Kingdom and the membership of New Zealand in the Commonwealth of Nations . With a flag size of 240 cm wide and 120 cm high, the national flag of the United Kingdom takes up exactly a quarter of the total area and is therefore 120 cm wide and 60 cm high.

On the flight section there are four five-pointed red stars on a blue background, each framed by a 1 cm thick white border. These represent the constellation Cross of the South , which is intended to express New Zealand's location in the southern hemisphere . It is not a symmetrically arranged cross. While the top, 12 cm wide star symbolizing the Gacrux and the bottom 14 cm wide star representing the Acrux are each 24 cm from the upper and lower ends of the flag and their connecting axis is parallel to the flag sides, the arrangement of the other two is limited Stars significantly increase the symmetry: They lie on a straight line rotated in a mathematically negative direction of rotation by 82 ° to the vertical axis; the one on the right, which represents the decrux , with a diameter of 10 cm at a distance of 24 cm from the intersection of both axes, the left, which stands for the Becrux (with a diameter of 12 cm) at a distance of 28 cm from the same intersection .

The smallest star of the Southern Cross, Epsilon Crucis , is absent from the flag of New Zealand, while the flags of other South Pacific countries ( Australia and Papua New Guinea ) feature all 5 stars of the constellation.

Coloring

All colors in the New Zealand flag are based on the coloring of the British Union Jack, which takes up the front upper quarter of the flag. The information in HTML , in the RGB color space , in the CMYK color model and as a Pantone color do not represent exactly the same hue, but only approximately correspond to one another.

Surname	HTML	RGB	CMYK	Pantone
Dark blue	# 000066	0-0-102	100-70-0-20	280 C
red	# CC0000	204-0-0	0-100-80-5	186 C
White	#FFFFFF	255-255-255	0-0-0-0	1 C

history

Flag of the United Tribes (1834-1840)

The idea of representing New Zealand with a flag first came up in 1830. That year, customs officials in Sydney Harbor confiscated a merchant ship, the Sir George Murray , made in Hokianga Harbor , because no flag showed its origin. At that time, Australia , New Zealand's main trading partner, was applying British shipping law. This stipulated that every ship had to carry an official certificate with it, which gave information about the place of construction, owner and nationality. Since New Zealand was not a colony of the United Kingdom at that time, no New Zealand ship could sail under the British flag. And without a flag to represent the nation of origin, ships would continue to be confiscated in the future.

At the time of the confiscation of Sir George Murray, there were two high Māori leaders on board the ship. When the news finally reached New Zealand, many Māori were extremely outraged by the actions of Australian officials. In New South Wales , too , people became more aware of the plight of the New Zealanders and sympathy for their little neighbors was stirred. For example, the weekly Australian newspaper called for a change in the law to remove any barriers to New Zealanders' burgeoning trade with Sydney . Although Sir George Murray was finally granted a temporary trading license in August 1831, it was considered necessary to introduce its own flag.

Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand

After James Busby became the British resident of New Zealand, he made it clear to the New South Wales colonial administration that New Zealand needed a flag. In addition to solving the trade problems with Australia, he hoped to induce the numerous Māori tribes to cooperate with the introduction of a national flag to be used throughout the country and thus pave the way for a central government in New Zealand. An Australian proposal with four dark blue, longitudinal stripes and the Union Jack in the upper left corner, Busby rejected immediately because it contained hardly the color red, which is of extraordinary importance for the Māori . Finally, on March 20, 1834, 25 Māori leaders as well as numerous missionaries, settlers and commanders of adjacent ships selected a flag from three proposals - later known as the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand ( German : Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand ). It was designed by a Church Missionary Society missionary , Henry Williams . Its main component is a red St. George's cross on a white background, which divides the flag into four equal sections. In the upper left corner there is another red George Cross on a blue background. A white star is drawn on each of the blue fields. There were only disagreements with regard to the frame color of the small cross (black or white) and the number of points on the stars (8 or 5).

^?Rejected proposal from 1834
^?Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand

The Union Jack (1840-1902)

The Union Jack

After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand was sometimes forcibly replaced by the United Kingdom's Union Jack . Many Māori tribes in particular did not agree with this, as the new state flag was a symbol of the “power of the British over the Māori ”. They demanded that the old New Zealand flag be displayed in parallel with the Union Jack . The clear rejection of the new national flag was evident, for example, from the actions of a leader, Hone Heke , when he repeatedly knocked down the symbolically important first flagpole of the country in Russell between 1844 and 1846, thus triggering the New Zealand Wars.

At sea, New Zealand was also represented by British naval and commercial flags until 1865. The Union Jack itself represented the national flag of the Pacific state until the official introduction of the current flag in 1902 and was partially shown parallel to today's flags until the 1950s. Nowadays the Union Jack is only hoisted when visiting important British guests of state.

The Maritime Origins of the New Zealand Flag (1865-1902)

The origins of today's New Zealand flag up to the I mperial Colonial Naval Defense Act back from the year 1865th This law stipulated that all ships that belonged to a British colonial government and up to this point had either not used flags, special flags or the national flag , had to drive with a Blue Ensign , which had the official badge or the official one in the right half The emblem of the respective state was to be provided. Since New Zealand did not have its own badge or emblem in 1865, a simple Blue Ensign was used without any characteristic distinguishing feature. When the New Zealand steamers St. Kilda and Sturt encountered British ships, they were reprimanded for not sailing under their own Blue Ensign . This embarrassing encounter prompted the New Zealand government to design its own ensign.

^?The New Zealand Blue Ensign from 1867.

Numerous suggestions were received - for example, the state name should be added under a seal from New Zealand. Since this combination was too complex, there were considerations to instead symbolize the “ Southern Cross ” with four red stars, each of which should be framed in white . However, this proposal was seen as not being characteristic of New Zealand. In 1867, the government finally decided on the two letters "NZ", which should be emblazoned in red letters with a white frame on the New Zealand Blue Ensign . However, this flag only lasted for a short time, because two years later the letter combination was replaced by the previous suggestion - the Southern Cross; thus the present-day New Zealand flag was born.

Although this flag was officially only intended for use on the high seas, it was increasingly used in New Zealand itself, although the Union Jack continued to be the country's national flag. Further confusion was caused by a new international signal book in 1899, which introduced a new New Zealand signal flag that same year. This resembled the country's sea flag at the time, but there was now a white disc under the Southern Cross. Originally this flag was also only intended for use at sea or in foreign ports, but it was soon to be found on public buildings and used for advertising purposes. The signal flag with the white circle was the focus of many debates in the New Zealand parliament; The original sea flag of New Zealand was thus mutilated, it was said, for example.

With the outbreak of the Boer War , in which New Zealand also participated, and subsequently a growing patriotism, national symbols gained in importance; the then Prime Minister of New Zealand Richard Seddon was embarrassed by the whole mess about the flag. Therefore, he had in mind to make the original Blue Ensign of New Zealand (without the white disc) the national flag of the country. In the United Kingdom, the project first met resistance, as the Blue Ensign was originally only allowed to be used by ships that belonged to the state. The project could nevertheless be implemented with restrictions and after minor discrepancies had been resolved. For example, at the end of 1901 it was decided that the flag would only contain four stars, not five as in most flags that also use the Southern Cross. On March 24, 1902, King Edward VII finally approved the law, which was published in the New Zealand Gazette on June 12, 1902 by the New Zealand governor .

The flag debate

Overview of the state of the debate

Sometimes the silver fern flag is shown next to the national flag (here in Wellington )

For several years now there have been repeated suggestions to replace the current national flag with a new one. In 1998, then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley supported the culture minister Marie Hasler's plan to introduce a new national flag. The project also received approval from the New Zealand Tourism Board . She preferred the silver fern flag , which shows a New Zealand national symbol and thus follows the principles of the maple leaf flag . The discussion came to an end when it became known that the association had concluded advertising contracts with the Saatchi & Saatchi agency . Its then chairman Kevin Roberts , also an advocate of the silver fern flag, was also a good friend of Shipley .

Another large-scale campaign to change the national flag began in 2003 when Wellington entrepreneur Lloyd Morrison founded the NZFlag.com Trust . The aim of this foundation was to bring about a non-binding referendum on this subject. According to New Zealand law, referendums can only be held if at least 10% of the total eligible population sign up on a list that is then submitted to Parliament. The creation of such a petition finally began in 2004.

As a countermovement to the NZFlag.com Trust , the New Zealand Flag Institute was founded in Auckland in 2005 , which opposed a referendum, defended the country's old national flag and tried to make the New Zealanders aware of the symbolism of the changed British Blue Ensign . To the surprise of some supporters of this movement, the Royal New Zealand Returned Services' Association (RSA), New Zealand's largest organization for war veterans , did not explicitly advocate keeping the old flag because it did not want to interfere in politics.

Despite all of this, the petition failed to reach the parliamentary elections in September 2005. The whole action ended the following July. Instead of the required 270,000, only about 100,000 New Zealanders signed the list. While the Flag Institute interpreted the failure of the project as support for the current national flag, the NZFlag.com Trust justified its failure with the majority of the New Zealand population not interested in change. While in July 1999 around 64% of the country's residents were against and only around 24% were in favor of a change, in 2004 59% were against a new national flag. Meanwhile, the number of supporters for a new flag rose to 37%.

Example of a new flag with the white silver fern (by James Dignan, 1998)

2014 to 2016: On the way to the referendum

In March 2014, Prime Minister John Key announced that a referendum on the introduction of a new flag would be held within three years. The opposition parties supported this and promised to stick with the project in the event of a change of government. Key believes that the new flag should be the one with the white silver fern on a black background, but he is open to further suggestions.

In 2015, a 12-person commission was tasked with taking the flag debate nationwide; In the end, the best of four drafts (supplemented by a fifth draft in September 2015) should be selected in a first referendum. This was then rejected by the voters in a second referendum from March 3 to 24, 2016 as a replacement for the previous flag. ( See below other designs are not shown.)

The five proposals for the first referendum
Option A (by Alofi Kanter )
Option B (by Kyle Lockwood )
Option C (by Andrew Fyfe )
Option D (by Kyle Lockwood )
Option E (by Aaron Dustin )

Option B was a known design by Kyle Lockwood from Wellington . The flag, which looks at least remotely similar to the current one, was designed in 2000 and caught the attention of the New Zealand public in 2004 when it took first place in a competition. The following year it was even shown on television on TV3 . The silver fern represents the people of New Zealand, the four stars the cross of the south and thus the location of the Pacific state. The blue color evokes associations with the ocean that surrounds the land, the red color stands for both the Māori and the times of war, while the white of the fern represents the "land of the long white cloud", like Aotearoa , the Māori - New Zealand's designation is mostly translated, symbolized.

The first referendum

The question of the first referendum was:

“ If the New Zealand flag changes, which flag would you prefer? ”

"If the flag of New Zealand was changed, which flag would you prefer?"

- Issue of the first flag referendum in New Zealand in 2015

The voting took place according to the voting system Instant Runoff Voting , ie the voters could number the proposals according to their preference (1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th preference). Since none of the five drafts achieved a majority of first-preference votes in the first voting round, the draft with the lowest first-preference vote was eliminated and all subsequent drafts moved up one position on the ballot papers. The first preference votes were then counted again. This was repeated until a draft had a majority of first preference votes. The vote took place from November 20, 2015 to December 11, 2015. The results were announced on December 15th. The decision was made very narrowly between the two silver fern designs by Kyle Lockwood .

Flag referendum November / December 2015 (final result)
option	First preference		Second round		Third round		Last round
option	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%	be right	%
Option D	559,587	40.15	564,660	40.85	613.159	44.77	670.790	50.58
Option B.	580.241	41.64	584,442	42.28	607.070	44.33	655.466	49.42
Option E.	122.152	8.77	134,561	9.73	149,321	10.90	-
Option a	78,925	5.66	98,595	7.13	-
Option c	52.710	3.78	-
total	1,393,615	100.00	1,382,258	100.00	1,369,550	100.00	1,326,256	100.00
Non-transferable votes			11,357	0.73	24,065	1.56	67,359	4.35
Informal voices							149,747	9.68
Invalid votes							3,372	0.22
Total votes							1,546,734	100.00
Participation							48.78

Non-transferable votes denote the ballot papers for which no preferences could be transferred to the next counting round because all options had been used up. This could happen when voters did not take advantage of all of the preferences on the ballot. Specific example: Option C was ticked as the first and option A as the second preference on the voting slip. Then the vote in the third count was considered non-transferable.
Informal votes were those in which the voter had not clearly indicated their first preference.
Invalid votes were those that were illegible or were considered invalid for formal reasons.

The second referendum

A second flag referendum was held from March 3rd to March 24th, 2016. Here the voters were asked which flag they preferred: the winning design from the first referendum or the previous flag. A possible reform thus depended on the outcome of this referendum.

“ What is your choice for the New Zealand flag? ”

"Which flag do you choose as the flag of New Zealand?"

- Question of the second flag referendum in New Zealand in 2016

The two flag designs were shown in miniature in color on the ballot paper. One of the two drafts had to be checked.

Results by constituency (the small map at the bottom right shows the election results of the Māori population). Red: majority for the previous flag, green: majority for the new flag.

Flag referendum March 2016 (provisional; March 24, 2016)
option	be right	percent
new flag	915.008	43.2
previous flag	1,200,003	56.6
total	2,115,011	100.0
Informal voices	4,942
Invalid votes	4,554
Total votes	2,124,507	100.00
Participation	63.7

Arguments for keeping the old flag

The current national flag of New Zealand (here in Wellington)

The New Zealand Flag Institute is against the introduction of a new national flag and in favor of keeping the old one. Its main arguments are:

It evokes emotions in New Zealanders.
The flag clearly sets out the shared history with the United Kingdom within the British Empire and now the Commonwealth of Nations .
It also provides information about New Zealand's location in the southern hemisphere.
Opponents of a new flag complain that most of the proposals are fixed on the Māori or Polynesia , although a large part of New Zealand's population is of Anglo-Saxon or Celtic descent.
One argument in favor of keeping the current flag is the colorful design.
Against the introduction of a flag with a silver fern as a motif, the fact that this plant has been the official logo of the All Blacks , the New Zealand national rugby union team, since 1893 and is therefore mostly associated with sport.
One of the most important points about the old flag is that many New Zealanders have gone to multiple wars under it and that the introduction of a new flag would therefore detract from the memory of the war veterans.
After all, the proponents of the current national flag justify their position with the fact that New Zealand has been represented by this flag for over 100 years.

Arguments for the introduction of a new flag

Proposal by the NZFlag.com Trust with silver fern

The NZFlag.com Trust is trying to introduce a new national flag with the following arguments:

The current flag is a defaced British Blue Ensign and suggests that New Zealand remains a colony or part of the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, it ignores New Zealand's location in the Polynesian cultural area in general and the Māori , the indigenous people of the Pacific state, in particular.
In addition, the appearance of the flag has little connection with the country itself.
Another important point for the introduction of a new flag is the fact that the New Zealand flag is often identical to that of many other countries that are also based on a Blue Ensign (especially the Australian flag , from which it is essentially only different in color and Number of stars differs) is confused.
In addition, a new flag with a silver fern as a motif would have a special reference to the history of New Zealand. The silver fern has been a New Zealand military badge since the Boer War . This tradition was continued in both World War I and World War II . That is why the silver fern is already a national symbol of the country, which appears, for example, in the New Zealand coat of arms and on the 1 dollar coin .
Last but not least, proponents of a new flag criticize the lack of national feeling about the British flag. While many people in Canada and the United States proudly hoist their own national flags, which have long become national symbols in the respective countries, New Zealanders with their own national identity cannot identify with the changed Blue Ensign .

Proponents' suggestions

^?The Koru flag by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1983).

There is no consensus among proponents of a new national flag about its future appearance. Numerous flag competitions have been held since the beginning of the 21st century, to which everyone could contribute their own suggestions. In addition to the flag shown above with the silver fern surrounded by a black area as the main motif, which contains the New Zealand national colors (black / silver) and is preferred by the NZFlag.com Trust , there are numerous other proposals, some of which are of considerable interest among the New Zealand population have caused.

In 1983, the New Zealander by choice Friedensreich Hundertwasser designed the Koru flag , which is now a historical alternative to the country's official national flag. The main motif of this white flag, which is provided with a black stripe on the left, is the koru , a stylized, unfurling fern frond that now plays an important role not only for the Māori , but also for the national identity itself. This flag is fairly common across the country, especially among adherents of the alternative subculture .

Other flags related to New Zealand

^?New Zealand White Ensign

All ships in the Royal New Zealand Navy must sail under the New Zealand White Ensign, the New Zealand naval war flag . At the same time, the flag will be hoisted in front of all New Zealand Navy facilities. The flag itself did not replace the previously common British White Ensign , on which its New Zealand counterpart is based , until 1968 . In the top front corner is the Union Jack, while the right half is dominated by four red, five-pointed stars on a white background that represent the Southern Cross.

^?New Zealand Red Ensign

The New Zealand Red Ensign is modeled on the British. It is made up of the Union Jack in the upper front corner and four white, five-pointed stars on a red background, which stand for the Southern Cross. This flag was introduced in 1901 as a replacement for the simple British Red Ensign and assumed its role as the commercial flag under which all ships in the New Zealand merchant navy had to sail. Nowadays ships owned by the New Zealand government but not part of the Royal New Zealand Navy are required to sail under the national flag. All other New Zealand ships are free to choose between the national flag, the Red Ensign and other flags permitted by the Governor General of New Zealand . Although the flag was actually only intended for use on the high seas, the Māori , who have always preferred the red color on flags (most recently guaranteed in the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act of 1981), were allowed the Red Ensign to be allowed to use on land. In addition, in view of long-standing Māori traditions, it is permitted in New Zealand to change official flags. So many Māori tribes not only use a simple New Zealand Red Ensign , but also one with the name of the tribe on the lower half.

The flag of the Māori independence movement (since 1990)

In informal use on land, the New Zealand Red Ensign is increasingly being replaced by a new Māori flag, which has no reference to the former colonial power Great Britain. This flag was designed by Hiraina Marsden , Jan Smith and Linda Munn in 1990 and was chosen as the winner in a national flag competition. Since then it has served as a symbol for Tino rangatiratanga , the Māori independence movement , and has been used by more and more representatives of this population group. It has been the official Māori flag since 2009 and is planted next to the national flag of New Zealand on Waitangi Day . The black in the upper part of the flag represents Te Korekore , the range of the possible existence ( English : potential being ) and therefore the long darkness from which the modern world emerged. The white in the center of the flag represents Te Ao Marama (English: the realm of being and light being and light ), that represents the current world, symbolizes the purity, harmony and enlightenment. In this context, the red that dominates the lower part of the flag stands for Te Whei Ao , i.e. coming into being . But red plays an even bigger role with the Māori : The first humans were created from the color red. Finally, the twisted spot in the front half of the flag represents a koru , a young, unfolding fern leaf. It stands for the creation of new life, for rebirth , for renewal and for hope for the future.

Emblem of the RNZAF

Flag of the Air Force

The current flag of the Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), is mostly only used at New Zealand air bases and on public occasions. It is almost identical to the flag of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Both wear the Union Jack in the front upper corner , in front of a light blue background there are three concentric rings in dark blue, white and red. In the New Zealand flag, however, the letter combination “NZ” has been added within the red circle. The New Zealand Air Force aircraft and helicopters do not display the entire flag, only an emblem. The latter, however, does not resemble the symbol on the flag. The British emblem served as a model for the New Zealand emblem, but in 1957 a white silver fern was added as a distinguishing feature to the innermost red disc. However, because of the undesirable resemblance to a feather, the fern was soon only used in silver. However, because this change on the aluminum-colored aircraft looked as if the paint had peeled off, it was decided on October 10, 1970 to replace the innermost red disk with a red kiwi fruit.

New Zealand Civil Aviation Flag.

The flag of New Zealand Civil Air Ensign consists of a dark blue cross with a white frame that divides the flag into four equal, light blue areas. In the upper front corner is the Union Jack , in the lower right corner there are four red, five-pointed stars that symbolize the Southern Cross. The flag is hoisted at all airports and airfields in the country and is found on every New Zealand aircraft. The flag also flies at all facilities of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand .

literature

Bernard John Foster : Flags . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 (English, online and another 7 pages [accessed December 15, 2015]).
W. Smith, O. Neubecker: Coats of arms and flags of all nations . Battenberg, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-87045-183-1 .
Alison Drench : Essential Dates - A Timeline of New Zealand History . Random House , Auckland 2005, ISBN 1-86941-689-9 (English).

Web links

Commons : Flags of New Zealand - Album of pictures, videos and audio files

Flags of the World - New Zealand (English)
New Zealand Ministry of Culture - Flag of New Zealand (English)
Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981 (English)
NZFlag.com Trust (English)
Government (www.govt.nz) on the new flag project :
- Overview of proposed designs: NZ Flag - Gallery
- The NZ flag - your chance to decide

Individual evidence

↑ Smith, Neubecker: Coats of arms and flags of all nations . 1980.
↑ Drench : Essential Dates - A Timeline of New Zealand History . 2005, p. 130 .
^ ^A ^b ^c Ian MacDonald : New Zealand . Flags of the World , November 20, 2013, accessed June 22, 2005 .
^ ^A ^b History of the New Zealand Flag - Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (1834-1840) . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
^ History of the New Zealand Flag - A link to the Mother Country: the Union Jack in New Zealand 1840-1902 . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
^ History of the New Zealand Flag - The maritime origins of the New Zealand Flag (1865-1902) . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
^ Silver fern instead of Union Jack: New Zealand is planning a referendum on a new flag. Spiegel Online, March 11, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 .
^ Ian MacDonald : Flag referendum: Red Peak design to be added as fifth option - John Key . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , September 23, 2015, accessed March 27, 2018 .
↑ ^a ^b First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Final Result . Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed April 11, 2019 .
^ First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag - Final Results by Count Report. Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed April 11, 2019 .
^ Voting in the second referendum . Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed March 3, 2016 .
^ Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Preliminary Result . Electoral Commission , March 30, 2016, accessed April 11, 2019 .
↑ Eight reasons to fly the New Zealand Flag . New Zealand Flag Institute , archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 10, 2014 (English, original website no longer available (3 reasons here, the others on the following 2 websites)).
^ Brian Sweeney : Eight Reasons to Change the New Zealand Flag . The NZFlag.com Trust , February 2004, archived from the original on December 20, 2005 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d History of the New Zealand Flag - Other Flags . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on August 13, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
^ Ian MacDonald : New Zealand Ensigns . Flags of the World , October 7, 2016, accessed March 27, 2018 .
^ Ian MacDonald : New Zealand - Maori Flags . Flags of the World , March 4, 2017, accessed March 27, 2018 .
↑ Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal : Te Ao Marama - the natural world . In: Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 24, 2007, accessed March 27, 2018 .

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on June 12, 2007 in this version .

[Smith_Neubecker-1] Smith, Neubecker: Coats of arms and flags of all nations . 1980.

[Drench_S130-2] Drench : Essential Dates - A Timeline of New Zealand History . 2005, p. 130 .

[FOTW_NZ_Flag-3] A ^b ^c Ian MacDonald : New Zealand . Flags of the World , November 20, 2013, accessed June 22, 2005 .

[MfCH_History_NZ_Flag_1834_1840-4] A ^b History of the New Zealand Flag - Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (1834-1840) . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).

[MfCH_History_NZ_Flag_1840_1902-5] History of the New Zealand Flag - A link to the Mother Country: the Union Jack in New Zealand 1840-1902 . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).

[MfCH_History_NZ_Flag_1865_1902-6] History of the New Zealand Flag - The maritime origins of the New Zealand Flag (1865-1902) . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).

[Spiegel_2014_03_11-7] Silver fern instead of Union Jack: New Zealand is planning a referendum on a new flag. Spiegel Online, March 11, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 .

[NZ_Herald_2015_09_23-8] Ian MacDonald : Flag referendum: Red Peak design to be added as fifth option - John Key . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , September 23, 2015, accessed March 27, 2018 .

[Referendum-9] First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Final Result . Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed April 11, 2019 .

[Referendum_Results-10] First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag - Final Results by Count Report. Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed April 11, 2019 .

[Referendum_2-11] Voting in the second referendum . Electoral Commission , December 15, 2015, accessed March 3, 2016 .

[Referendum_2_Results-12] Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Preliminary Result . Electoral Commission , March 30, 2016, accessed April 11, 2019 .

[NZ_Flag_institute-13] Eight reasons to fly the New Zealand Flag . New Zealand Flag Institute , archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 10, 2014 (English, original website no longer available (3 reasons here, the others on the following 2 websites)).

[NZFLAG_Essay-14] Brian Sweeney : Eight Reasons to Change the New Zealand Flag . The NZFlag.com Trust , February 2004, archived from the original on December 20, 2005 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).

[MfCH_NZ_Flag_Other_Flags-15] History of the New Zealand Flag - Other Flags . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , archived from the original on August 13, 2006 ; accessed on March 27, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).

[FOTW_NZ_Ensigns-16] Ian MacDonald : New Zealand Ensigns . Flags of the World , October 7, 2016, accessed March 27, 2018 .

[FOTW_NZ_Maori_Flags-17] Ian MacDonald : New Zealand - Maori Flags . Flags of the World , March 4, 2017, accessed March 27, 2018 .

[TeAra_Te_Ao_Marama-18] Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal : Te Ao Marama - the natural world . In: Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 24, 2007, accessed March 27, 2018 .