Whanganui Mayor Annette Main holds one of the new flags made for display at the district's formal occasions.
The flag shows Whanganui's coat of arms, with the council's name under it in both Maori and English. It is displayed in the council chamber, and flown outside the council offices. MsMain said she preferred it to the previous flag, a logo designed by David Mack.
The coat of arms was given to the district in 1955 and is based on that of Lord Petre, a New Zealand Company officer after whom the city was initially named, and it also takes elements from the coat of arms of William Hogg Watt, the city's first mayor.
Each element has a meaning - with the Rutland Stockade, at the top, in memory of Whanganui having been a garrison town, and the shells a reference to the long journey to New Zealand by European settlers.
The tuatara supporting it, at right, recognises links with Maori people.
