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Niue Customs

image by Zoltan Horvath, 10 August 2024

Description of flag

See also:

Niue

Description of flag

The Customs Act 1966, 1966/19 – 1 January 1967 (Niue Laws | Tau Fakatufono-tohi a Niue, Legislation as at December 2006, Volume 2 | Tohi 2,Statutes, Constitutional-M, Government of Niue, Alofi, 2006, pp. 641-716, http://www.gov.nu/wb/media/Volume%202.pdf) determines the Customs Flag in the Part 1, Section 11 (p. 650), so:

11 Customs flag
(1) The Customs flag shall be the Niue Ensign with the addition in the fly of the letters “H.M.C.” in white in bold characters.
(2) The ships and boats employed in the service of the Customs shall be distinguished by the Customs flag.

Now, I am not sure what was the Niue Ensign in 1966, but since 1975 that would be the "yellow ensign", would it not? The Section of the Customs Act 1966 is still valid, unlike some other of its determinations that were repealed in 2004 (among others). Then again, following the letter of the law strictly, the Niue Flag Act (see below) nowhere mentions the word ensign (as in "the Niue Ensign" above). The Section 2 subsection (3) of the Niue Flag Act does invalidate any other "hitherto prescribed or used as the recognised flag of Niue", but it does not state that this ensign is invalidated, and indeed, the inclusion in the 2006 issue of the "Niue Laws" it does appear to be still valid.

Now, if only we could confirm the use of such (or similar) flag by actual customs vessels in Niue. (And, what was the Niue Ensign in 1966? If it was the NZ ensign, its Customs flag of similar design was changed in 1996...)
Željko Heimer, 21 January 2012

'Niue ensign' is most likely an adaptation of 'New Zealand ensign' from New Zealand's Customs Act 1966 when it was applied to Niue in preparation for Niue's independence in 1974. If so, it would have meant that the New Zealand Flag, and any unreported interim flag(s), until Niue legislated its current flag in 1975. The Customs Act 1966 remains in force in 2015. The New Zealand Customs and Excise Act 1996 was not applied to Niue, as since 1974 Niue has been an 'associated state' with its own legislation.
Jeff Thomson, 23 November 2015

A Customs Ensign has been reported, but Niue doesn’t have this kind of ensign, I haven’t found any pictorial evidence of it. Niue Customs Service has only an emblem, shown above.
https://admin-niue.tradeportal.org/media/Niue-ASYCUDA-Newsletter-1.pdf
Zoltan Horvath, 10 August 2024