 To mark the transition to independence, the New Zealand Government recommended that the garland of laurels on the Governor's flag should be replaced by one of fern leaves; the fern leaf was already recognised as one of New Zealand's national symbols.In a letter of 5 January 1908 the Governor requested that the garland around the badge on his flag be changed from the usual green laurel leaves to a garland of fern leaves, and referred to the garland of maple leaves surrounding the badge on the Flag of the Governor General of Canada as a precedent.This was approved without hesitation, since the regulations only stipulated that the device on the flags of Governors should be surrounded by a "green garland"—the type of leaves was not specified.