New Zealand flag referendum

I have just saw on the BBC News (online article see here) that New Zealand will hold two separate referendums in 2015 and 2016 to possibly try to change their flag. So I think now is a good time to share my proposals. My first thought was a flag based on the flag of the United Tribes, regarded as the first NZ flag

Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand 1834-1840

Not an actual proposal but it did get me thinking about the United Tribes design, particularly the design in the canton. Perhaps a modified version of the flag:

National flag and maritime Jack

It reflects the first New Zealand flag, with black representing the Maori people and blue those of European descent. White is neutral and represents peace and unity. The idea for a white cross rather than red came from the NZ Yacht ensign.
Likewise the red white and blue ensign system for use at sea would probably look like this:

Naval Ensign 

State ensign

Civil Ensign

Air Force flag

Army Flag

Most of the ensigns are relatively unchanged from the current one but have the white cross flag in the canton rather than a UK flag. The naval ensign is an altered Royal Navy ensign. Ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy (as did the Canadians and Australians) used an unaltered St George's ensign until the 1960s, So its another historical reference, The St George's ensign with the aproprate flag in the canto is not uncommon in Commonwealth navies and is used by India,Barbados and Jamaica. Undefaced versions of the state and civil ensigns still have the Southern Cross, as I think it looks nicer than a plain blank field. or alternatively the white cross could be used:

Flags of the territories in "Free Association" with New Zealand, are also based on UK ensigns, with Union Jacks in the canton, these may wish to change this to a NZ flag:

The Cook Islands

Niue

However the NZ Prime Minister, Mr John Key has said he would like a black flag witha silver fern similar to sport flags. So Mr Key these designs are for you:

Its distinct and a cross between the current flag and the silver fern one. The red, white and blue maritime ensign system can still be used:

Please feel free to comment and discus ideas or alternatives. 

International arms of Elizabeth II

This experiment really came as an idea from a discussion about the Royal Coat of arms. Some might remember reading my Heraldic Designs post, where one of my designs was a single coat of arms for HRH the Prince of Wales that represented all his titles. So what if the same could be said of HM the Queen? This is not a new idea, for example the Royal Arms of England before the 1707 Act of Union with Scotland were:

This coat of arms is a personal coat of arms rather than a state coat of arms, which is what Royal Arms have turned into over time. Notice that it is quartered with the arms of England (itself quartered with arms of France,(English monarchs still claimed the throne of France in 1707)), Scotland and Ireland. 

What if the same sort of thing happened with today's Royal coat of arms? The problem arises that the Queen is currently the constitional monarch of 16 different states, 15 of which have coats of arms. The Current arms of the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) are:

I had an attempt at an international coat of arms, in an attempt to try make the Royal arms a personal coat of arms rather than a state one with mixed results. My first attempt was this:

Using the British coat of arms as a base I quartered the shield with the 15 coats of arms of the commonwealth realms. The supporters come from the UK Arms and the compartment(base) has the flowers of the British Isles for historical symbolism. The flags are the Union Flag and the flag of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Union Jack is used in a lot of commonwealth realms and appears in the flags of others. The Commonwealth flag represents the Queen's position as head of the Commonwealth (although its not a hereditary title). The motto doesn't appear on any current coat of arms, so is therefore more neutral.

The shield in detail is:

The nations represented on the shield are from left to right

• Top: United Kingdom (altered to include Wales) Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
• 2nd Row: Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada.
• Third row: Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Bottom Row: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, St Kitts and Nevis

The shield is defaced with the personal emblem of Elizabeth II, a crowned letter "E" in a garland of gold roses.
I only included the arms of sovereign states and not territories, dependencies or associated states, as they should be represented by (but perhaps not in) the arms of their sovereign state.

The first coat of arms is perhaps not completely neutral so here is the second design with some of the elements (not the shield) changed:

The most obvious change is the Union Flag replaced by the Queen's personal flag, which was originally designed to represent her as an individual rather than associate, so this seems appropriate.
Secondly I removed the crest, rather than add all the crests, which I might have done if there was only two or three, but there is far, to many and if I added them all, it would overwhelm the design.
So no crest but I did keep the St Edward's Crown as this is used in the heraldry of other Commonwealth realms, notably (but not only) Canada, Australia and New Zealand. (also of interest is on both versions the supporters are wearing their respective St Edwards and Scots crowns)
The Compartment also includes the plants of Australia and Canada. I also used a different motto to one that I think reflects the Queen's life.
Of course coats of arms were often  historically used to make statements which I think this does. But If the shield is a little overwhelming, perhaps HM could only use the arms of nations, where she has a Royal Standard?
This reduces the quarters from 15 to 6, as only six countries use their own Royal Standard (there are seven Royal standards the UK has two):

This is perhaps a more practical design.
Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment.
Some posts that may also be of interest:
National flag of the UK
Heraldry guide
Heraldic Designs
Government Coat of Arms
Personal flags