8/14/2019 National Maori Flag Brochure

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Recognition of a National Mäori FlagFor some time, Mäori have called or the recognition and use o aMäori ag on Waitangi Day, to acknowledge and celebrate th e unique

partnership ostered through the Treaty o Waitangi.That call gained o fcial support when in January 2009, the Ministero Mäori A airs publicly called or a Mäori Flag to be own on theAuckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day.

The Prime Minister took up that call, charging the Minister o MäoriA airs with responsibility or securing the agreement o Mäori on which

ag should be own.

The Minister o Mäori A airs now wishes to engage with Mäori toidenti y a national Mäori ag as a means o acknowledging Mäorihistory and promoting Mäori aspirations.

Purpose of the National MäoriFlag ConsultationFeedback is being sought to identi y a pre erred ag which representsMäori history, and will carry us orward with our hopes and aspirations

or our uture.Twenty one hui are being held throughout the country to ensure

eedback is received rom Maori individuals and communities.

Participants at each hui will be asked:

1. O the our ags outlined in this brochure, which would you chooseas a national Mäori ag to represent Mäori?

a) the National Flag o New Zealand (the Flag o the IndependentTribes o New Zealand)b) the New Zealand Flagc) the New Zealand Red Ensignd) the Maori Flag (the Tino Rangatiratanga ag)

2. On what occasions should a national Mäori ag be own?

a) only on Waitangi Dayb) on Waitangi Day and other special national occasions, such asANZAC Day, Queen’s Birthday

You can fnd background in ormation on the ags, and the schedule orthe Flag consultation hui, by going to www.tpk.govt.nz/maori ag

What happens to your Feedback?All comments received at these hui will be recorded, collated andcompiled or the Minister o Mäori A airs to consider.

National Mäori Flag ConsultationTe Puni Kökiri, Te Puni Kökiri House143 Lambton Quay, Wellington 6011, PO Box 3943,Wellington 6140, New Zealand

maori ag@tpk.govt.nzwww.tpk.govt.nz/maori ag

If I can’t get to the Hui can I stillhave my say? YES. You can send a written submission to the Minister o MäoriA airs with your pre erences, to the address at the bottom o thepage. Alternatively you can make an online submission atwww.tpk.govt.nz/maori ag

The fnal date or all submissions is 5pm on Friday 28 August 2009.The fnal report to the Minster o Mäori A airs will include an an alysiso all submissions received.

What is the Purpose of a Flag?To represent a place, organisation, or person, generally on a rectangularpiece o cloth. Flags today are used to symbolise nationhood andidentity.

Flag HistoryFlags have been used in one orm or another or more than 4,000years. They were used as a means o communication, initially ormilitary purposes and then or identi ying signals at sea.

They evolved to represent royal houses, then countries and other levelso government, businesses, military ranks and units, sports teams, andpolitical parties.

New Zealand Flag HistoryThe need to select an o fcial New Zealand ag arose in 1830 whena trading ship was seized in Sydney by Customs o fcials or sailingwithout a ag or register.

At that time Australia was under British navigation laws which saidthat every ship must carry an o fcial certifcate detailing nationalityo the ship. Without a ag, New Zealand’s trading ships continued therisk o being seized.

It is believed that during the Sydney seizure and detainment, Patuoneand Taonui rom Te Taitokerau were on-board. It was reported at the

time that Mäori were ‘exceedingly indignant’ upon hearing the news o the ship’s ate.

Kia WhakamanaHe Haki MäoriRecognising a National Mäori Flag

8/14/2019 National Maori Flag Brochure

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National Flag of New Zealand(Flag of the Independent Tribes) 1

The Mäori Flag(the Tino Rangatiratanga Flag)

The New Zealand Flag

1 McLintock, A H editor (1966) An Encyclopedia o New Zealand.2 Busby to Governor, 22 March 1834, C O 209/1, Australian Joint Copying Project,

Public Record O fce, London. Archives New Zealand/Te Whare Tohu TuhituhingaO Aotearoa Head O fce, Wellington.

3 Ministry o Culture and Heritage.

When James Busby arrived as British Resident in 1833, he suggestedthat a New Zealand ag be adopted.

Aside rom solving the problems with trans-Tasman trade, Busby alsosaw the ag as a way o encouraging Mäori chie s to work together,paving the way or some orm o collective government.

On 20 March 1834, 25 chie s rom the Far North and their ollowersgathered at Waitangi to choose a ag rom three designed by RevHenry Williams, a senior missionary o the Church Missionary Societyand ormer lieutenant o the Royal Navy.

Busby sent the ollowing account o the selection o the ag toGovernor Bourke in New South Wales on 22 March 1834:

“They were then asked in regular succession upon which of the three Flags their choice fell, and their votes were taken down by a son of one of their number who has been educated by the Missionaries,and who with several others appeared on this occasion respectably dressed in European clothing.

I was glad to observe that they gave their votes freely, and appeared to have a good understanding of the nature of the proceeding.

The votes given for the respective Flags were 3, 10 & 12, and the greatest number having proved in favour of the Flag previously adopted by the Missionaries it was declared to be the National Flag of New Zealand, and having been immediately hoisted on the Flag staff was saluted with 21 guns by the Ship of war.” 2 2

The ag was also adopted as the Flag o the Independent Tribes o New Zealand, and served as the o fcial ag o New Zealand untilthe signing o the Treaty o Waitangi in February 1840 when it wasreplaced with the British ag, the Union Jack.

The New Zealand Flag is the symbol o the realm, government andpeople o New Zealand.

Its royal blue background symbolises the sea and sky around us. Thestars o the Southern Cross emphasise this country’s location in theSouth Pacifc Ocean. The Union Jack Flag gives recognition to ourhistorical oundations and the act that New Zealand was once a Britishcolony and dominion.

The New Zealand Flag may be own on any day o the year. It isparticularly appropriate to y it on days o national signifcance, such asAnzac Day, and on other important occasions.

The New Zealand Red Ensign

The New Zealand Red Ensign has served two purposes in history.

Firstly, it is one o the ags auth orised to be own by New Zealandships. Secondly, it was a common gi t to M äori rom Queen Victoria orthe government.

When the Red Ensign was used to reward or thank Mäori, a hapu or

ancestors name was worked into the design. Red was o ten pre erred byMäori or its properties o ‘mana’ or rank.

The customary use o the Red Ensign by Mäori on signifcant occasionsis still provided or today.

A specifc provision in the Flags, Emblems and Names Protection Act1981 permits Mäori to adapt the ag (by adding words or emblems).The red ensign can only be own in this manner on occasions that areo signifcance to Mäori. 3

This is perhaps the most recognised Mäori ag in New Zealand.

In 1989 a competition was run by a group named Te Kawariki todesign a national Mäori ag.

Most o the entries however, were considered inappropriate becausethey were designed around a bi-racial rather than a specifc Mäoritheme.

The only ag that m et the criteria o recognising Mäori history,expressing a Mäori purpose and using a Mäori design, was onedesigned by Kawariki members - Hiraina Marsden, Jan Smith and

Linda Munn. Another member o Te Kawariki, Walter Erstich, gavethe explanation to the design (below).

A ter some revision by other members o Te Kawariki, thefnal version was eventually approved as the winner o thecompetition and unveiled as the national Mäori ag, at Waitangi,on Waitangi Day 1990. It has also become known as the ‘TinoRangatiratanga’ ag.

Explanation o design:

Black represents Te Korekore, the realm o potential, the heavens,the long darkness rom which the world emerged. Black alsorepresents the male element - ormless, oating and passive.

White represents Te Ao Märama the realm o being, the world o light, the physical world. White also symbolises purity, harmonyenlightenment, and balance.

Red represents Te Whei Ao, the realm o coming into being. Redalso represents active, ashing, southern, alling, emergence,

orest, land, and gestation. Red is the emale element,Papatuanuku, the earth mother, the sustainer o all living things.Red is also the colour o earth rom which the frst humanwas made.

The Koru (the curling rond shape) represents the un olding o new li e, rebirth, continuity, renewal and hope or the uture.