New Zealand Regional Flags

Cleaning up the computer and have been finding a few forgotten files. This one was made just after the announcement of my home country's decision to keep our current flag. The announcement was made on 24th March 2016.

New Zealand's legal regions do not feature official flags, so I went about making my own. The Chatham Islands and New Zealand's protectorates are not featured on this map.

1. Northland: The flag features a strip of green flanked by two cream strips, which represents the Northland Peninsula and its beaches. The two blue areas either side represent the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean, with the Pacific being the larger of the two on the right (east).
2. Auckland: The main body is the navy blue from the national flag. The eight-pointed star in the canton represents the eight areas of the Auckland city. The bottom three stripes represent the geography of the Auckland Region: the grey Greywacke which forms the basement for the earth, green for the fertile land on top, and the thin strip of red representing the urbanization and human development atop the land.
3. Waikato: The green majority represents the extensive farming in Waikato, while the white represents the farming of dairy cattle and sheep. The blue bar and circle represent the Waikato River and Lake Taupo, respectively.
4. Bay of Plenty: The blue represents the Pacific Ocean, while the gold represents the wealth that the Bay was named after by James Cook. The three stars represents the three largest urban areas in the region; Taurange (orange), Rotorua (green), and Whakatane (yellow).
5. Gisborne: A simple bicolor representing a landscape, with the rising sun representing that Gisborne is one of the world's first areas to see the morning sun for that day.
6. Taranaki: Taranaki's flag is linked to Gisborne's (two opposite sides of NZ), with the sun seen in Gisborne's flag continuing in Taranaki's. The main difference is the dual white peak of Mount Taranaki and Fanthams Peak, the main geographical feature of the region.
7. Manawatu-Whanganui: The two blue bars represent the two rivers which define the region, the Whanganui in the north and Manawatu in the south. The black is for the Maori inhabitants and the Whanganui Rivers importance to their way of life, and the red is for the British settlement of the region. The green center represents the Manawatu Plains.
8. Hawke's Bay: The tricolor alludes to the national flag's color scheme. The lower red bar represents the wealthy horticulture industry that dominates the region. The black triangle represents a volcano, indicating Hawke's Bay reputation for seismicity.
9. Wellington: The tricolor by the hoist shows the colors of New Zealand's flag, and hence represents Wellington's role as the capital of NZ. The four stars, in the design of the ones on the NZ flag, represent the size and location of Wellington
10. Tasman: The two diagonal bars are a simplified New Zealand outline, while the star indicates the location of the Tasman region on the image. The orange bar on the bottom relates to the Dutc history of the region: Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, was the first European to discover New Zealand. The Tasman Sea is named after him, and the Tasman region is named after the sea.
11. Nelson: The blue is a color strongly associated with Nelson and its sports teams. The colour comes from Nelson's history with the sea. The black cross flory is taken from the arms of Lord Horatio Nelson, for which the city is named after and can be found on Nelson city's current flag. The dual bar links the design to the other flags of the Malborough Sounds area.
12. Malborough: Malborough's flag is very similar to Tasmans, link the two biggest regions of the Malborough Sounds. Again the flag features a simplified NZ with a star locating the region. The purple bar on the bottom represents the horticultural industry of the region, especially the vineyards and famous wine production. The lighter blue of the flag fits aesthetically with the warmer weather which makes wine growing so prevelant in the region.
13. West Coast: The flag features five same-sized bars, each represent a part of the regions history or feature. The black represents the coal mining and the Maori inhabitants. The white represents the sheep and dairy cattle farming. The blue is the West Coast's relation with the sea and also represents the Greymouth River. The green is for the lush rainforest that covers much of the Coast as well as jade production and the farming community. The gold represents the gold mining in  the area and the wealth brought on by it.
14. Canterbury: Probably the most controversial due to the lack of the regional colours of black and red. The green band represents the fertility of the Canterbury plains. The white represents the sheep and dairy farming, as well as the snow-covered Alps that sit on the regions western border. The two blue bars represent the Waimakariri and the Rakaia rivers.
15. Otago: Otago already has a nice flag, so mine should be seen as an alternative, not a replacement. My flag features the eight-pointed star as well as the blue and gold colours found on Otago's flag. Mine abandons the mountain symbols and goes for a tricolour on the bottom. The gold representing the wealth, the blue the seas, the relation with Scottish settlers, and the Clutha river, while the burgundy represents the rich soil which Otago's vineyards use to grow.
16. Southland: Southland's flag is appropriated from Scotland's flag, using St. Andrew's Cross with modified colours. The Scottish flag itself represents the large Scottish population the settled in the area. The black represents the pre-colonial and current Maoris living in the area, while the gold is the wealth of the region, especially from Invercargill.