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
Carina (constellation) in Carina. One is known as the 'Diamond Cross', which is larger than the Southern Cross (but fainter), and, from the perspective of the southern hemisphere viewer, upside down, the long axes of the two crosses being close to parallel. Another asterism in the constellation is the False Cross, often mistaken for the Southern Cross, which is an asterism in Crux. The False Cross consists of two stars in Carina, Iota Carinae and Epsilon Carinae, and two stars in Vela, Kappa Velorum and Delta Velorum. Carina is known for its namesake nebula, NGC 3372, discovered by French astronomer Nicolas Louis