New Zealand flag

Flag of United Tribes

The need for the flag for New Zealand became apparent when the Sir George Murray merchant ship , built in , was arrested at the Sydney customs for going to sea without a flag, which is a violation of British navigation law. At that time, New Zealand was not a colony and did not have a flag. Among the passengers of the ship were two high-ranking Maori chiefs, probably named Patuone and Taonui. The detention of the ship raised a wave of indignation among the Maori, but they refused to release the ship until the flag appeared on it ^[2] .

The first flag of the country appeared on March 9 or 20, 1834 as a result of a vote of at a meeting of chiefs, organized in Waitangi by Briton James Busby . The united tribes a year later in the same place adopted a . Three flags of authorship by were proposed. The leaders rejected two options, which were attended by the British flag, choosing the George Cross or the , which was used on the ships of the Missionary Society ^{[3] [4]} . This flag became known as the “flag of the united tribes of New Zealand” ^[5] and its description was published in the New South Vallian newspaper in August 1835, but the number of rays of the stars was not indicated there ^{[comm. 1]} .

This flag is still flying on the Waitangi flagpole, and is also hung on the ^[6] .

British flag

After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi , the British became the flag of New Zealand, although the previous one continued to fly on some ships, and in some places on land. For example, the settlement of the in Wellington used the flag of the united tribes before the order of replacement in May 1840, issued by Governor Gobson ^{[3] [7]} .

Blue flag-based flags

The first flag of New Zealand, based on the British maritime flag , appeared in 1867 following the Colonial Navy Defense Act 1865 ( maritime defense law of the colonies ) , requiring the colonies to hang out Union Jack with the emblem of the colony. New Zealand did not have one, so instead of it the letters “NZ” were put on the flag ^[8] .

In 1869, the assistant to the commander of the sloop Albert Mark, proposed the design of the four stars of the Southern Cross to the governor of New Zealand George Bouin ^[9] . Initially it was assumed that this flag would be used only on state ships, but in fact began to be used as a state since the rise of patriotism in the Second Boer War . officially chose the option with the stars, Edward VII signed the flag law on March 24, 1902 ^[10] . The flag of united tribes is depicted on the reverse of medals for participation in the Second Anglo-Boer War ^[11] , which demonstrates its relative prevalence at that time.

The national flag in legislation is called the “symbol of the country, government and people of New Zealand” ^[13] ; the flag law, like most laws, can be changed if a simple majority of members of parliament vote for the change.

Fixation proposal

In March 1994, Prime Minister Jim Bolger publicly supported a ^[14] . In response, the CDA member introduced the bill on the protection of flags, hymns, emblems and names ^[15] . If he had passed, a change in the laws on the flag and hymn would have required the support of 65% of the members of parliament. The bill did not pass the second reading (26 vs. 37).

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Disputes about changing the flag began before May 1973, when Labor at the national conference voted against the corresponding proposal ^[16] . In November 1979, Foreign Minister proposed to change the country's flag and tried to find artists to create a new flag with a silver fern . The proposal did not receive significant support ^[17] . In 1998, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley supported the call of Minister of Culture to use the on a black background as an alternative. On August 5, 2010, Labor MP Charles Chauvel introduced a on to create a consultative commission and to organize a referendum on the flag ^[18] .

Prime Minister John Key on March 11, 2014 announced that he plans to hold a referendum on the flag during the work of the ^{[19] [20]} .

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  Option A

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  Option B

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  Option C

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  Option D

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  Option E

The first round of the referendum on the new flag of New Zealand was held in November - December 2015. Of the five options proposed, the silver fern with a black and blue background won. According to the designer's idea, Silver Fern personifies the growth of the nation, and the Southern Cross - the location of New Zealand. Blue represents the clean atmosphere of New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean. However, its aesthetic component was criticized. At the same time, a similar variant was leading for a long time, but with red in place of black (variant E).

The second referendum was held in March 2016. On it, voters rejected the new draft of the flag (56.61% were in favor of preserving the former flag) ^[21] .

New Zealand was the first country to establish the flag with the image of the Southern Cross as the national flag. The Australian flag , adopted in 1901, also includes the Union Jack and the Southern Cross, however, firstly, five rather than four stars were taken from this constellation, and secondly, the larger Commonwealth Star is under the British flag.

The Southern Cross is present on many other flags.

• Flags of New Zealand

• Information on changing the flag of New Zealand, 2003 .
• Kiwi vs fern: New Zealanders chose a new flag for several months, but in the end they decided to stay with the old one - Meduza