Flag of New Zealand Waitangi in 1834, the flag was of a St George's Cross with another cross in the canton containing four stars on a blue field. After the formation of the colony in 1840, British ensigns began to be used. The current flag was designed and adopted for use on the colony's ships in 1869, was quickly adopted as New Zealand's national flag, and given statutory recognition in 1902. For several decades there has been debate about changing the flag. In 2016, a two-stage binding referendum on a flag change took place with voting on the second final stage closing on 24
Southern African Vexillological Association of the stars in fess touch the conjunction of the chevrons. The symbolism of the flag is as follows: At least one of the colours in this flag can be found in the national flag of each country in Southern Africa. The gold inverted chevron (the "V") alludes to vexillology. The five white stars, which are derived from the Southern Cross, and the white chevron, in turn allude to Southern Africa. (The Southern Cross itself has not been used since it is more closely associated with the flag of Australia and the flag of New Zealand). SAVA has published the