In 1907 New
Zealand's status
was officially transformed from self-governing colony
to dominion. To mark the
transition to independence, the New Zealand Government
requested that the garland of
laurels on the
Governor’s flag should be replaced
by one of fern leaves.
The fern leaf was already recognised as one of New
Zealand's national symbols. In a letter of 5 January 1908 the
Governor requested that the garland around the badge on his flag be changed
from the usual green laurel leaves to a garland of fern leaves, and referred
to the garland of maple leaves surrounding the badge on the flag of the
Governor-General of Canada as a precedent. This was approved without
hesitation, since the regulations only stipulated that the device on the
flags of Governors should be surrounded by a “green garland”. The type of
leaves was not specified.
There was no change
made to the flag when the Governor became Governor-General in 1917.
This version of the flag continued to be used by successive Governors and Governor’s-General until about 1935.