New Zealand flag days 2026 and 2027

New Zealand’s flag days are set in a notice made by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage under section 10 of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981. The current one, the New Zealand Flag Notice 2024, was published in the New Zealand Gazette on 4 March 2024 and came into force on 1 March 2024. It replaced the Flag Notice 1986 and updated the royal days after the accession of King Charles III.

The notice is addressed to government buildings, where the flag must be flown at full mast on the listed days. According to Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH), flag flying is particularly encouraged on these days, and local government, schools, businesses and private individuals can follow the notice without being required to.

The days of national commemoration

All dates for 2026 and 2027

The table shows every day with its date. All dates follow the rules in the Flag Notice; the Matariki dates come from Schedule 1 of Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022.

Anzac Day

According to MCH, Anzac Day is New Zealand’s national day for commemorating those who have served the country in times of war, and the New Zealand flag is flown at the top of the flagpole. Where commemorative services are held, the notice allows the flag to be lowered to half-mast for the duration of a memorial service as a sign of respect. The procedure is described in the guide to half-mast.

Waitangi Day and the Tino Rangatiratanga flag

Waitangi Day on 6 February marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. According to MCH, flying the New Zealand flag and the Tino Rangatiratanga flag together on days of national significance like Waitangi Day symbolises and enhances the Crown–Māori relationship. The Māori flag first flew on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and on government buildings on Waitangi Day 2010. How the two flags are placed is explained in the guide to flag protocol.

Matariki

Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki/Matariki Observance Day became a public holiday in 2022. Its date shifts each year to align with the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, and it always falls on a Friday. Schedule 1 of the Matariki Act lists the dates up to 2052: 10 July 2026, 25 June 2027 and 14 July 2028.

Other official occasions

The notice also asks for the flag to be flown at full mast on government buildings in a locality visited by the Sovereign, another member of the Royal Family, a head of state or a head of government, and in Wellington on the opening of Parliament by the Sovereign or the Governor-General, the state farewell for an outgoing Governor-General and the swearing-in of a new one. MCH adds other special occasions, such as a royal birth, subject to special command by the Governor-General or direction of the Prime Minister.

Weekends and holidays

Under clause 7 of the notice, a government building is not required to fly the flag on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday that is not a normal working day for the people who work in it. How flags are flown on public holidays is covered in the guide to flags on public holidays, and occasions of mourning in the guide to flags in mourning.