FLAGS
COMPANY, CHURCH, AND OTHER FLAGS
Flags used by business enterprises, clubs, religious, and uniformed organisations form a miscellaneous category of New Zealand flags which it would be too large to catalogue in full. The following, therefore, must be considered as a brief and only partially representative selection. It must be emphasised, also, that those in this category are private flags in that they are displayed only by the groups concerned, and that while some may be known nationally and even internationally, their significance is reserved to the groups whose purposes they serve.
Among business flags, that of the Australia and New Zealand Bank is a noteworthy representative, because it is an instance of a flag which has been designed by the Royal College of Heralds from the company's official coat of arms (E20). Another distinctive private flag is that belonging to the Wellesley Club in Wellington (E21). This is based upon the crest of the Dukes of Wellington, whose family name the club perpetuates. Several religious denominations use special flags. The Anglican and Presbyterian Churches use the flags of St. George and St. Andrew respectively, and the Ratana and Ringatu Maori Churches also have their special flags. The church flag most often seen in New Zealand, however, is that belonging to the Salvation Army. This is invariably in red, yellow, and blue, colours which symbolise, respectively, the blood of Christ, the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the purity of the soul. The flag's design has changed slightly over the years, particularly as regards the number of points on the star. This originally had five points (E22), then six, and lately eight. Today this is the standard flag of the Salvation Army units (E23), and with the addition of each individual unit's name is so used throughout the world.
by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.
- Flag Collections: Dominion Museum, Wellington
- Flag Collections (MSS): Ball Collection (MSS), Turnbull Library
- Gordon Collection (MSS), Dominion Museum. Flags of All Nations, G.B. Admiralty (1889) (1907) (1930) (1948)
- Flags of the World, Carr, H. G. (1961)
- C.O. 209/1 (MSS), Colonial Office (1934)
- G. 28/3(Enclosures to Government Despatches) (MSS) (1867)
- M.A. 24/13 (Flags Requested File of Maori Affairs Department) (MSS) (1902). (The above MSS references are held in National Archives.) Laurenson Papers (MSS), Turnbull Library
- New Zealand Gazette: 1869, p. 556
- 1874, p. 122; 1899, p. 2167; 1939, p. 1548.Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives: 1908, A. 1, p. 17
- 1909, A. 2, p. 7; Regulations for the R.N.Z.A.F. and Air Board Orders (1952)
- R.N.Z.N. Regulations and Instructions (1958)
- The New Zealand Wars, Cowan, J. (1955).
