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

To mark His Majesty’s accession to the throne, the New Zealand Flag is to be flown at full mast on Proclamation Day from 8am to 5pm Sunday 11 September 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. To recognise the national and constitutional significance of this milestone, the New Zealand Flag will fly at full mast for the duration of Proclamation Day.

The New Zealand Flag is flown at full mast on days of national commemoration, that are of particular importance and significance to us as a nation. Other days on which Government buildings are also required to fly the New Zealand Flag at full mast are; Waitangi Day, Commonwealth Day, Anzac Day and Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki/Matariki Observance Day.

The New Zealand Flag must be hoisted from half-mast to full mast at 8am on Sunday 11 September.

At 5pm on Proclamation Day (Sunday 11 September 2022), 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, visit our website. Further information about what the Death of Her Majesty the Queen means for New Zealand is available on the Governor-General’s website.

© Scoop Media