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New Zealand is a country of over four million people, and is located off the southwest coast of Australia. New Zealand gained complete independence from the United Kingdom in the year 1947. However, the first New Zealand flag was adopted in the year 1834.
The first in the history of the New Zealand flag was the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand. The United Tribes of New Zealand consisted of chiefs of New Zealand’s Maori tribes. This New Zealand flag had a white background with a red cross. The upper left hand corner of this New Zealand flag featured a blue background divided into four sections by another red cross. Each of the four blue sections in this area contained a white five pointed star.
During the years 1840 to 1867, the national New Zealand flag was the national flag of the United Kingdom. In 1867, a new New Zealand flag was introduced that still featured the United Kingdom’s flag. This new flag for New Zealand had a dark blue background, with the United Kingdom flag in the upper left hand corner. The right side of this New Zealand flag featured the letters “NZ” in red with a thin white outline.
The final flag in the history of the New Zealand flag is the one still used today. This New Zealand flag was adopted in the year 1902, but was first introduced in 1869. This flag is identical to the last one, but instead of the red “NZ”, the current New Zealand flag features four red five pointed stars with white outlines on the right hand side of the flag. These stars are arranged to depict the constellation called the Southern Cross.
As the New Zealand flag is very similar to the Australian flag, and contains the flag of the United Kingdom, of which New Zealand is no longer a member, there has been a recent push to redesign the flag. An organization called the NZ Flag.com Trust was founded in 2003 for this purpose. This organization has proposed a New Zealand flag with a silver fern leaf on a black background. So far, however, this group has been unsuccessful in getting the flag changed.
You can find many online resources to show your pride in your New Zealand heritage, or to educate your children about the country of New Zealand. There are many pictures of the New Zealand flag online, even animated New Zealand flags to add fun to your child’s education. You may also wish to download New Zealand flag wallpaper for your computer.
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