One of the criticisms levelled at the New Zealand flag is that it is too similar to other Commonwealth countries' flags, particularly Australia's. The New Zealand flag features four red stars and the Australian flag six white stars, both representing the Southern Cross constellation, while the remaining elements of the flags are the same. Though the stars are different, the similarities are enough to confuse those who are not familiar with the flags' detail. This cartoon, published in 2005, nicely illustrates this confusion. Perhaps appropriately, the cartoonist himself has confused the star issue – his Australian flag has five stars instead of six.
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David Fletcher
Cartoon by David Fletcher
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