The Queen's Personal Flag for New Zealand was the personal flag of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in her role as Queen of New Zealand. It was approved for use in 1962, and was used by the Queen when she was in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The monarch's Representative, the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

, uses a separate flag.

Background

On 11 October 1962, Queen Elizabeth II announced the adoption of a special personal flag for use on her tour of New Zealand between 6–18 February 1963 and subsequent royal visits.

Description

The flag follows the same basic pattern used by the then Queen across several other realms since the 1960s: it is the escutcheon of a country's coat of arms (e.g. the arms of New Zealand) in

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

form defaced with a device taken from her personal flag (a blue roundel surrounded by a garland of roses encircling a crowned letter 'E', all in gold). The flag is divided into four quadrants: The first quadrant includes depicts four stars as representative of the Southern Cross constellation, as depicted on the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

. The second quadrant consists of a golden fleece on a red field. The third quadrant contains a golden

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

sheaf Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics) In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as sets, abelian groups, rings) attached to the open s ...

on a red field. The final quadrant includes two crossed gold hammers on a blue field. The central stripe consists of three

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s. Superimposed in the centre is a dark blue roundel bearing a Roman E surmounted by a Royal Crown within a chaplet of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

s, all gold-coloured, obscuring the centre ship. The central blue disc is taken from the then Queen's Personal Flag, which was used by the Queen in relation to her role as

Head of the Commonwealth The Head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...

Usage and protocol

Royal Standard of New Zealand at State Memorial Service for Queen Elizabeth II

The flag was flown on any building in which the Queen was in residence and by a ship transporting the Queen in New Zealand waters. It was also flown whilst the Queen was attending a state or public function, and it could be seen above the saluting base at military parades and open air gatherings when she was present. It was also broken when the Queen set foot on board one of Her Majesty's New Zealand Ships. When flown with the New Zealand Flag, the Queen's Personal Flag for New Zealand took the position of honour. The only occasion on which the Queen's Personal Flag for New Zealand was flown in her absence was at parades in honour of her Official Birthday. With the death of the Queen in 2022, the use of this flag ceased. The flag was paraded for the last time at the State Memorial Service for the Queen of New Zealand at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul on 26 September 2022.

Legal

The flag is protected under the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981, Section 12(1) states: According to Section 12(2)(c), this applies to, among others, "any representation of the Royal Standard, or the Sovereign's personal flag for New Zealand".

Coronation standard

During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at Westminster Abbey, the "standards" of various countries are carried by various officials in the procession inside the abbey. These flags are the country's coat of arms as a

banner of arms A banner of arms is a type of heraldic flag, characterised by sharing its imagery with that of the coat of arms (''i.e.'' the shield of a full heraldic achievement, rendered in a square or rectangular shape of the flag). The term is derived from ...

. For New Zealand, unlike

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the banner remained the same for the

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement. The

coronation of Charles III The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...

saw representatives from the

Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the ...

carry their respective

instead of a banner of arms.Coronation Roll
/ref> File:Coronation Standard of New Zealand.svg, Coronation standard used in 1911, 1937 and 1953 File:Flag of New Zealand (3-2).svg, Coronation standard used in 2023

References

* * *
Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981
legislation.govt.nz {{NZFlags Monarchy of New Zealand