Derivative Flags (Part 1)

Alex Westphal · 01 Sep 2015

New Zealand has recently been debating the wide variety of potential new flags that have been proposed. Today the final four designs were announced so I’ve decided to investigate the neglected issue of what derived flags would look like.

What is a Derivative Flag?

A derivative flag is a flag that is based on the design of another. In the context of New Zealand, the most famous is probably the NZ Civil Maritime Ensign also know as the NZ Red Ensign.

The NZ Red Ensign differs from the NZ flag in that has it has a red background (rather than blue) and the stars are pure white (instead of red and white):

Similarly the Royal NZ Navy use the Naval (white) Ensign with reversed colours:

There is also an entire other category of derivative flags that keep the flag intact and placed in the canton. Examples of this type include the NZ Police (pictured below), NZ Fire Service, and NZ Customs.

Proposed Flag

The final four proposed flags include two by Kyle Lockwood that retain the stars but add a fern as well as colour in the Canton. Polling seems to suggest that these are the preferred options and they make for easy derivations so I will only consider those.

The two designs are Silver Fern (Red/White/Blue):

And Silver Fern (Black, White, Blue):

Note: The images I have been able to get my hands on are an early design of Kyle Lockwood’s and don’t entirely match the official designs. Also the official version of the Black/White/Blue Fern uses a lighter colour of blue.

Possible Red Ensigns

If we keep the same variations the Red Ensign could become one of:

Possible White Ensigns

The White Ensign is a little bit more difficult because using the present derivation strategy yields something horrible like:

One possible option then would be to change the colour of the fern and canton, my favorite option of which being:

Possible Air Force Ensigns

Like the RNZN, the Royal NZ Air Force has their own ensign, that presently consists of the Union Ensign in the Canton on a light blue background and a RNZAF Roundel in the fly.

Using the present derivation strategy yields:

Possible Civil Aviation Ensigns

The present civil aviation ensign is a rather complex affair with no obvious derivations based on the current proposals:

My personal preference would therefore be a simplified design in the style of the Red/White Ensigns:

In the next post we’ll look at derivations of the proposals that place the proposed flag in the canton (eg Police, Fire Service, Customs).