Friday, March 29, 2024

Flag guidance following Queen’s death

A ceremony will be held at Parliament today to proclaim the new Sovereign as King Charles III of New Zealand.

To mark His Majesty’s accession to the throne, New Zealand Flags will today be flown at full mast on Proclamation Day from 8am to 5pm on all Government and public buildings.

This instruction applies to all Government departments, buildings and naval vessels which have flag poles and normally fly the New Zealand Flag.

Proclamation Day is the day in which we celebrate the accession of King Charles III as Sovereign of New Zealand.

At 5pm today, the New Zealand Flag should be returned to its half-mast position and continue to be flown at half-mast up to and including the day of the State Memorial Service in New Zealand of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Further advice as to the date of Her late Majesty’s State Memorial Service in New Zealand will be provided once available.

If your New Zealand Flag is ordinarily flown in the weekend, please follow all of the above protocols around timing and full or half-mast protocols during this mourning period and Proclamation Day.

If you do not usually fly the New Zealand Flag on the weekend, but you have the opportunity to do so tomorrow for Proclamation Day, you are welcome to do so.

The flag is half-masted by first raising it to the top of the mast and then immediately lowering it slowly to the half-mast position. The half-mast position will depend on the size of the flag and the length of the flagpole. The flag must be lowered to a position recognisably ‘half-mast’ to avoid the appearance of a flag which has accidentally fallen away from the top of the flagpole. As a guide, the flag should be more than its own depth from the top of the flagpole.

For more information about half-masting the flag the Ministry for Culture and Heritage  website.

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