Flag of New Zealand
Oceania
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Wellington
- Flag adopted
- 1902
- Population
- 5,324,700
- Area
- 268,838 kmยฒ
- Languages
- English, Mฤori, New Zealand Sign Language
- Currency
- New Zealand dollar ($) โ NZD
- Demonym
- New Zealander
- Government
- parliamentary democracy 
- Subregion
- Australia and New Zealand
- Driving side
- Left
- Timezones
- UTC-11:00, UTC-10:00 +3 more
- Independence
- 1907
Religions
- None 48.6%
- Christian 37.3%
- Unspecified 6.7%
- Hindu 2.7%
- Other 1.6%
- Maori 1.3%
- Muslim 1.3%
- Buddhist 1.1%
About This Flag
The flag of New Zealand features a dark blue field with the Union Jack in the upper-left canton and four red five-pointed stars with white borders on the right, representing the Southern Cross constellation. Unlike Australia's Southern Cross, New Zealand's version has only four stars (omitting the faintest star, Epsilon Crucis) and uses red stars with white edges rather than white stars.
The blue field represents the sky and the surrounding Pacific Ocean. The Union Jack acknowledges New Zealand's historical relationship with Britain.
The Southern Cross has been associated with New Zealand since the early European settlement period and appears in Maori astronomical traditions as well. The flag was adopted on March 24, 1902.
What the colors & design mean
The Union Jack represents New Zealand's historical ties to Britain. The four stars of the Southern Cross represent New Zealand's position in the South Pacific. The dark blue field symbolizes the ocean and sky. Red and white reference the traditional colors of Britain.
Pattern: Canton Design
Fun Facts
- New Zealand held a two-stage flag referendum in 2015-2016 to potentially replace the flag โ a black, white, and blue silver fern design was the alternative, but 56.6% of voters chose to keep the existing flag.
- New Zealand's flag uses only four stars for the Southern Cross compared to Australia's five โ NZ omits Epsilon Crucis (the faintest star) and colors its stars red with white borders instead of all white.
- New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote, in 1893.
- The silver fern, which was the leading alternative flag design, remains an unofficial national symbol used by New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team and other national sporting teams.
Similar looking flags
These flags share similar colors and patterns:
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