New Zealand

Aotearoa

Last modified: 2010-01-09 by jonathan dixon
Keywords: new zealand | aotearoa | blue ensign | southern cross | stars: southern cross | stars: 4 | star (fimbriated) |
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By Sam Lockton, 31 August 2002

Flag Adopted:	12 June 1902
Use:	National Flag and Government Ensign
Colours:	Blue: Pantone 280 C (websafe RGB 0-0-102) Red: Pantone 186 C (websafe RGB 204-0-0)

In this page:

• Description of the flag
• Flag Construction Sheet

See also:

• Complete Index of all pages
• New Zealand Ensigns
• New Zealand Military Flags
• Royal and Vice Regal Flags
• Coat of Arms
• Subdivisions and Dependencies
• Historical flags of New Zealand
• Maori Flags
• New Zealand companies' flags
• Sport Flags
• Proposals for a new flag

• Ministry for Culture and Heritage - New Zealand Flag Page
  reported by Marc Pasquin, 21 January 2002
• Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)
  reported by Lachy Paterson, 29 June 2008

Description of the flag

Based on the British Blue Ensign, the New Zealand flag consists of the Union Flag in the upper hoist position, and the Southern Cross represented by four five-pointed stars in the fly.

Construction Sheet

by Sam Lockton and António Martins, 22 June 2005

The stars on the NZ flag are not a "true" cross, they fall at the relative positions of the stars Acrux, Mimosa, Gacrux and delta Crucis, and as such the "crossbar" doesn’t intersect the upright at 90 degrees.
James Dignan, 30 August 1999

The centres of the stars forming the long limb of the cross shall be on a vertical line on the fly, midway between the Union Jack and the outer edge of the fly, and equidistant from its upper and lower edges; and the distance apart of the centres of the stars shall be equal to thirty-six sixtieths the hoist of the ensign.

The centres of the stars forming the short limb of the cross shall be on a line intersecting the vertical limb at an angle of 82 therewith, and rising from near the lower fly corner of the Union Jack towards the upper fly corner of the ensign, its point of intersection with the vertical line being distant from the centre of the uppermost star of the cross twelve-sixtieths of the hoist of the ensign. The distance of the centre of the star nearest the outer edge of the fly from the point of intersection shall be equal to twelve-sixtieths of the hoist of the ensign, and the distance of the centre of the star nearest the Union Jack from the point of intersection shall be equal to fourteen-sixtieths of the hoist of the ensign.

The star nearest the fly edge of the ensign shall measure five-sixtieths, the star at the top of the cross and that nearest to the Union Jack shall each measure six-sixtieths, and the star at the bottom of the cross shall measure seven-sixtieths of the hoist of the ensign across their respective red points, and the width of the white borders to the several stars shall in all cases be equal to one one-hundred-and-twentieth of the hoist of the ensign.

Dylan Crawfoot, 24 August 1999, quoting from New Zealand’s Government flag page

See also:

• Comparison between Australian and New Zealand flags