The Royal Standard – the personal flag of the Sovereign – may not be flown in New Zealand unless the Queen herself is present. The New Zealand armed services, however, are permitted to use it at parades held on the day of and in honour of the Queen's birthday. The conditions under which it may be flown are laid down in the Manual of Ceremonial.

On 11 October 1962 the Queen announced the adoption of a special personal flag for use on her tour of New Zealand early in 1963 (D). The flag is based upon the New Zealand Coat of Arms of 1911; however, there are certain minor differences between the published design and the flag used. The most important of these is in the depiction of the stars of the Southern Cross. The design shows these as white on a blue field while the flag shows them as being red and white as in the New Zealand Ensign. The wreath and monogram are gold. All lines on the flag and in the devices are picked out in brown and in some places this appears heavy enough to be called fimbriation. The new flag is symbolic of the fact that the Queen is Queen of New Zealand, and it flies whenever she is present in this country. The Queen has personal flags for two other Commonwealth countries – Canada and Sierra Leone.