| Colors | HEX Code | RGB | CMYK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Blue | #012169 | 1, 33, 105 | 99, 69, 0, 59 |
| White | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 | 0, 0, 0, 0 |
| Red | #C8102E | 200, 16, 46 | 0, 92, 77, 22 |
The Flag of New Zealand has a royal blue background with a Union Jack in the canton and four five-pointed red stars on the fly side. The stars are bordered with white.
Meaning of the New Zealand Flag
The royal blue background symbolizes the blue sea and sky surrounding the islands, and the stars of the Southern Cross Constellation signify the location of the island in the South Pacific Ocean. The Union Jack, in the top left corner, shows the strong ties with the United Kingdom.
History of the New Zealand Flag
New Zealand had its first official flag in 1834 when the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand was recognized as the first national flag of these islands as a symbol of the Maori people’s independence.The first flag had a white field with a red cross and a blue canton with a red cross and four stars. When New Zealand became a British colony, the Union Jack was hoisted on the islands. In 1902, the Parliament adopted a flag that was unofficially in use since 1869. In 1907 New Zealand became a dominion, and then it gained full independence in 1947. Several attempts to change the flag of 1902 were made. In 2014 a contest was held to choose the best design to replace the current flag, but the voters chose to keep the current flag. Therefore, the flag stayed the same.