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Southland province (New Zealand)

Flag of Southland
Rugby fan flag
Southland District coat of arms

See also:

Flag of Southland

submitted by Glenys Carson, 26 June 2002, modified by James Dignan, 6 April 2005

Southland New Zealand Spirit of a Nation is the official brand chosen by the local authorities approximately 5 years ago to both capture and promote the lifestyle and personal qualities of Southlanders. This is the official flag of Southland and the logo is reproduced on a wide range of merchandise.

Elements of the logo:
Koru (fern): symbol of strong Maori heritage
The curved shape of the fly portion of the koru: the rolling landscape of Southland and the story-line of our people.
Sun (upper fly): as bright future.
Three pale blue items: stars of the Southern Cross.
Blue rectangle: blue of the clean crisp air and pristine waters.
Figure: Spirit of the people of Southland.
Glenys Carson, 26 June 2002

The flag can be seen on the "Southland New Zealand Spirit of a Nation" website. As you can see, the sun in the upper fly is pale yellow, not white as in the image sent by Glenys Carson.
James Dignan, 6 April 2005

Rugby fan flag

by António Martins and James Dignan, 1 August 1999

The usual sport’s fans flags are quartered maroon and gold.
James Dignan, 29 March 1999

Maroon and yellow are the colours that are used in regional sports uniforms, particularly those of rugby.
Robbie Ellis, 10 March 1999

The maroon of the Southland and North Harbour flags and playing strips is nearer the colour on the Latvian flag — a very dark red.
James Dignan, 5 April 1999

The flag that you associate with the Southland rugby team in New Zealand is out of date. Several years ago the uniforms got an overhaul to maroon and blue as can be found on their website www.rugbysouthland.co.nz. One of the reasons for this was to reduce the confusion with several other teams using similar colours. I recall seeing their new flag as a vertical tricolor with maroon, white and blue where the white is at a smaller ratio to the others.
Chris Rodgers, 23 January 2005

There are, however, no standardised designs for provincial flags.
James Dignan, 12 September 1996

Southland District coat of arms

from official district website, by Dov Gutterman, 7 Aug 1999