<P> The first flag of New Zealand to be based on the British blue ensign was introduced in 1867 following the Colonial Navy Defence Act 1865, which required all ships owned by colonial governments fly the defaced Royal Navy blue ensign with a colonial badge . New Zealand did not have a colonial badge, or indeed a coat of arms of its own at this stage, and so the letters "NZ" were simply added to the blue ensign . </P> <P> In 1869 the First Lieutenant of the Royal Navy vessel Blanche, Albert Hastings Markham, submitted a design to Sir George Bowen, the Governor of New Zealand, for a national ensign for New Zealand . His proposal, incorporating the Southern Cross, was approved . It was initially used only on government ships, but was adopted as the de facto national flag . To end confusion between various designs of the flag, the Liberal Government passed the Ensign and Code Signals Bill, which was approved by King Edward VII on 24 March 1902, declaring the flag as New Zealand's national flag . The United Tribes flag design also features on the back of the Second Boer War medals presented to soldiers who served in the war, which indicates that the United Tribes flag was used widely in New Zealand until around this time . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Flags based on defaced Blue ensign </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The Blue Ensign . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The flag of New Zealand, 1867--1869 . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Code Signals Flag, 1899 . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The current flag, formally adopted in 1902 . </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Flags based on defaced Blue ensign </Th> </Tr>

Why is new zealand flag similar to australia