Ministry of Transport (New Zealand)

Last modified: 2013-06-09 by ian macdonald
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• Ministry of Transport flag (1968-98)
• Ensign with white ensign in canton

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• New Zealand Ensigns
• New Zealand
• New Zealand - Index of all pages

Ministry of Transport flag (1968-98)

I used to work for the Ministry of Transport (MoT) for many years, and indeed managed to acquire a flag in 1994, which I still have. Most of the flags were flown by the Traffic Department police stations until the Traffic police merged with the NZ Police in the early 1990s, at which point all the flags were supposed to be returned to MoT head office for disposal. Many were simply torn up for cleaning cloths (I was appalled), so I saved one for myself (I also heard that many Traffic cops souvenired theirs).

It is full size bunting, with a light blue field and the NZ Flag (i.e. the royal blue one – definitely not the white one shown in the picture!) in the canton. The badge in the fly, for which Miles Li has correctly drawn the details, is actually fully coloured with the MoT crest in all its proper colours. On the actual flag, the roundel containing the crest is of a different non-woven material to the rest of the flag, and has been sewn directly onto the fly, on each side.
Michael Sykes, 23 July 2009

The following is a reply to an inquiry about the flag I received in the mail:

Yes, there was a Ministry flag and it used to hang outside the Secretary's office on a floor based pole. It was produced in 1968 when the Transport Dept merged with the Air Department to become the Ministry. We had a lot of traffic officers in those days and a flag went with our image as an enforcement agency. Once Stewart Milne left as Sec and an MFAT ex Dep Sec became our Secretary, the image of us being a policy Ministry was driven home and a flag was not seen to fit with that image. This flag is not current and is not used anymore (since 1998).

Sincerely, Kelly Smith,
Communications Assistant,
Ministry of Transport (Te Manatu Waka), Level 9,
38-42 Waring Taylor Street,
PO Box 3175,
Wellington, New Zealand

Ensign with white ensign in canton

Ministry of Transport ensign as reported by Barraclough and Crampton's Flags of the World
image by Miles Li, 23 October 2005

Here is the flag of the New Zealand Ministry of Transport, as shown on Flags of the World [bcr78].
Miles Li, 23 October 2005

I'm puzzled by this flag. Why would the M.O.T. have the N.Z. white ensign in its canton, rather than the national flag? I mean, the M.O.T. is hardly naval, is it? Or is it?
Peter Johnson, 23 October 2005

This one very much surprises me. Although I have no evidence to support it, I suspect this is the ensign of the MOT (they cover both land and water transport, and - oddly - elevators). I suspect that on land they use dark blue in a way similar to the NZ Fire Service and Police. Mind you, I've never seen them fly any flag, and certainly no flag other than the national flag flies outside their local branch office.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I feel I have seen a dark blue flag with the NZ flag in the canton and the MOT emblem in gold in the fly. Mind you, their website doesn't even mention a flag, let alone show one...
James Dignan, 23 October 2005

To quote Flags of the World [bcr81]: "The Ministry of Transport has an ensign established in 1968. This has a field of sky blue with the Naval Ensign forming the canton, and the Ministry's badge in the fly." Since this book is one of the more accurate books on the subject vexillology, and that the illustration shows the correct Ministry of Transport badge, I didn't expect this to be incorrect (however weird it might be)!
Miles Li, 24 October 2005