On July 24th, Winston Peters, the deputy prime minister of New Zealand, said in an interview to TVNZ (Television New Zealand) that Australia had copied his country’s flag. He also asked Australians to change their flag, saying that New Zealand had adopted its flag first.

New Zealand’s flag has been official since 1902 and Australia’s since 1950. The discussion is controversial because there are records of both countries using the symbols before those dates. Both countries were colonies of the United Kingdom. This explains something both flags have in common: the British symbol (the Union Jack) on the upper left hand corner with the blue background. Many colonies have also used this symbol, but New Zealand and Australia kept it even after they became independent.

More similarities

Aside from the British symbol, both flags also have stars representing the Southern Cross constellation. The number of stars, the colour, and the layout are different. New Zealand’s flag has four five-pointed red stars, and Australia’s has six seven-pointed white stars.

The Australian government did not reply to Peters, but relations between the two countries do not seem to be disturbed. In 2016, New Zealand asked its people to vote on whether to change its flag. The majority voted to keep the current flag.

QUESTIONS
1) Which of the following is NOT a similarity between the flags of New Zealand and Australia?
a) The presence of stars
b) The British symbol in the upper left corner
c) The main colours
d) The phrase on each of the flags
Answer key: d

2) Would you agree to change your country’s flag if it were very similar to another country’s? Why?

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