New Zealand White Ensign
naval ensign
The New Zealand White Ensign (also known as the New Zealand Naval Ensign or the Royal New Zealand Navy Ensign) is a naval ensign used by ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from 1968. Based on the Royal Navy's White Ensign, it features the Southern Cross from the New Zealand national flag in place of the Saint George's Cross. One of the earliest flags associated with the country, that used by the United Tribes of New Zealand, was a white ensign. This was replaced by the Union Flag when New Zealand became a British colony. A blue ensign with the Southern Cross was introduced for ships of the colonial government in 1867 and this soon became a de facto national flag. Ships in New Zealand naval service wore the Royal Navy's White Ensign until 1968 when the distinct New Zealand White Ensign was introduced. The ensign was implemented out of a desire to distinguish New Zealand vessels from those of the Royal Navy and this decision is regarded as an important step in the development of the RNZN.
The New Zealand White Ensign is worn by commissioned RNZN vessels and shore establishments during daylight hours. It is also flown from the top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge to mark the anniversary of the founding of the RNZN. The right to fly the ensign was granted to flag officers of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron upon their centenary in 1971 and it may also be used by New Zealand examination vessels.
History
A version of a white ensign was adopted as the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, a confederation of Māori tribes on the North Island, by a vote in 1834 and approved by the British resident James Busby. This flag had a red Saint George's Cross and the upper canton was blue with a red cross and four eight-pointed stars in each quadrant.
“New Zealand White Ensign” enters the record as naval ensign. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Zealand, White and Ensign can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “New Zealand White Ensign” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.