Changes: New Zealand

Revision as of 11:57, 17 January 2020

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The flag of New Zealand is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right. The stars' pattern represents the asterism within the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross.

As well as the National Flag, the NZ Blue Ensign also serves as the Naval Jack, Government Ensign, and the Vehicle Flag for the Prime Minister, Government Ministers, and New Zealand Ambassadors/High Commissioners.

New Zealand's first flag, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, was adopted in 1834, six years before New Zealand became a British colony following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Chosen by an assembly of Māori chiefs at Waitangi in 1834, the flag was of a St George's Cross with another St. George's Cross (albeit with black fumbriation) in the canton containing four eight-pointed stars on a blue field. After the formation of the colony in 1840, British ensigns began to be used. The current flag was designed and adopted for use on Colonial ships in 1869, was quickly adopted as New Zealand's national flag, and given statutory recognition in 1902.

Current ensigns and municipal/regional flags

Proposed flags

2015–16 referendum

For several decades there has been debate about changing the flag. In 2015 and 2016, a two-stage binding referendum on a flag change took place with voting on the second final stage closing on 24 March 2016.

Over 10,000 designs were submitted by the public. From these, the Flag Consideration Panel created a longlist of 40 flags, which was then further narrowed down to a shortlist of four (see below). A fifth design, "Red Peak", was added after a campaign on social media.

The first referendum in November–December 2015 let people rank these five designs in order of preference. The winner, Kyle Lockwood's "Silver Fern (Black, White & Blue)", took on the current flag in the second referendum in March 2016. The country voted to keep the existing flag by 57% to 43%.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 The '''flag of New Zealand''' is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right. The stars' pattern represents the asterism within the constellation of {{w|Crux}}, the Southern Cross.
+As well as the National Flag, the NZ Blue Ensign also serves as the Naval Jack, Government Ensign, and the Vehicle Flag for the Prime Minister, Government Ministers, and New Zealand Ambassadors/High Commissioners.
 New Zealand's first flag, the flag of the {{w|United Tribes of New Zealand}}, was adopted in 1834, six years before New Zealand became a British colony following the signing of the {{w|Treaty of Waitangi}} in 1840. Chosen by an assembly of Māori chiefs at Waitangi in 1834, the flag was of a St George's Cross with another St. George's Cross (albeit with black fumbriation) in the canton containing four eight-pointed stars on a blue field. After the formation of the colony in 1840, British ensigns began to be used. The current flag was designed and adopted for use on Colonial ships in 1869, was quickly adopted as New Zealand's national flag, and given statutory recognition in 1902.
 {{Clear}}
+== Current ensigns and municipal/regional flags ==
+<gallery>
+Royal_Standard_of_New_Zealand.svg.png|New Zealand Royal Standard
+Flag_of_the_Governor-General_of_New_Zealand.svg.png|Governor-General's Flag
+rnzaf (2).gif|Royal New Zealand Air Force Ensign
+kiwi-CUSTOMS.jpg|NZ Customs Service Ensign
+Civil_Ensign_of_New_Zealand.svg.png|Civil Ensign
+Civil_Air_Ensign_of_New_Zealand.svg.png|Civil Air Ensign
+Flag_of_New_Zealand_Police.svg.png|New Zealand Police Ensign
+nz^fire.gif|NZ Fire Service Ensign
+Naval_Ensign_of_New_Zealand.svg.png|Royal New Zealand Naval Ensign
+New_Zealand_Yacht_Ensign.svg.png|NZ Yacht Ensign
+auckland.jpg|Flag of the City of Auckland
+Flagofwellington.gif|Flag of the City of Wellington
+Nelson_flag.svg.png|Flag of the City of Nelson
+Chch_FLAG.jpg|Flag of the City of Christchurch
+Flag_of_Palmerston_North,_New_Zealand.png|Flag of the City of Palmerston North
+nz_mtino.gif|Maori Sovereignty flag
+Flag_of_the_Chatham_Islands_(unofficial).png|Chatham Island
+Flag_of_Otago.svg.png|Flag of Otago Province
+</gallery>
 ==Proposed flags==
@@ Line 36: / Line 60: @@
 ===Other proposals===
-<gallery>
+<gallery orientation="none">
 nz!koru.gif|NZ flag proposal {{w|Hundertwasser koru flag|"Koru" by Friedensreich Hundertwasser}}. A version without the black band was entered into the referendum, but was removed from the longlist due to a copyright claim.
 arrow-kiwi.png|NZ Flag proposal "Kiwi Gate-Crasher" by Dean Thomas
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 1.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Oct 2017|n=1}}
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 2.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Oct 2017|n=2}}
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 3.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Oct 2017|n=3}}
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 4.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Oct 2017|n=4}}
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 5.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Apr 2018|n=5}}
+File:NZ flag proposal Hans 6.png|{{User:HansLN/GE|p=ocn|d=Jun 2018|n=6}}
+design-2.JPG|NZ flag proposal #2 by Dean Thomas
+design-1.GIF|NZ flag proposal #3 by Dean Thomas
+"Past, Present, and Future" (2015), designed by Graham Hodson from Bay of Plenty.svg|NZ flag proposal "Past, Present, and Future", by Graham Hodson
+RNZAF-3.png|NZ North Island flag proposal by Dean Thomas
+RNZAF-4.png|NZ South Island flag proposal by Dean Thomas
+nzl flag.png|NZ Flag proposal named ' The Black Ensign' the flag was made dark grey for colour contrast. Designed by Cameron J Smith 2018.
+Proposal Flag of New Zealand.svg|Proposal for a flag for New Zealand. By [[User:Qaz_Janssen|Qaz]] Mar 2014,Jan 2020 ([[User:Qaz Janssen/Proposals/National/OC#New Zealand|details and more versions]])
+Proposal Flag of New Zealand 6.svg|Proposal for a flag for New Zealand. By [[User:Qaz_Janssen|Qaz]] Jan 2020 ([[User:Qaz Janssen/Proposals/National/OC#New Zealand|details and more versions]])
 </gallery>
 [[Category:New Zealand]]