 |
|  | ||
 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Te Hakituatahi o¯ Aotearoa (the First Flag of New Zealand) It was first hoisted in 1834 and gazetted in the New South Wales Gazette on 19 August 1835 as the flag of The United Tribes of New Zealand or Te Wakaminenga o¯ nga¯ Hapu o¯ Nu Tireni. Up until that date, New Zealand built ships were not registered and hence received no international recognition and could legally be treated as pirates. When the Sir George Murray was seized and sold and her cargo impounded in 1830, something had to be done. On 28 October 1835 New Zealand declared her independence under this flag, which became known as "Flag of the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the Crown of England". This flag was officially replaced as the Flag of New Zealand by the Union Jack when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.Because this flag was not designed by Ma¯ori people (but rather presented as one of three options to Ma¯ori by Europeans), there was a competition in 1990 to design a new Ma¯ori flag. | ||||
 | ||||
| | | | |
The Flag of the Maori nation In 1990 there was a national flag competition in New Zealand.None of the entries showed any Maori acknowledgement or inspiration.The TE KAWARIKI therefore held their own Maori flag competition. Black represents Te Korekore the realm of Potential Being. The long darkness from whence the world emerged. White represents Te Ao Marama the realm of Being and light. It is the physical world, where symbolises purity, harmony and enlightment. The Koru, curling frond shape, represents the unfolding of new life, that everything is reborn and continues. It represents renewal and hope for the future. Red represents Te Whei Ao, the realm of Coming into being. It symbolises female, active, flashing, south, yelling, forests, gestation and spirals.Red is Papatuanuku Earth Mother, the sustainer if all living things. Red is the colour of earth from which the first humans was made. | ||||
 | ||||
| | | | |
The Flag of Aotearoa/New Zealand This flag was introduced in 1869 and adopted as the national flag in 1902. It is the British Blue Ensign with a stylised Southern Cross. It is similar to the Australian flag, which has white stars, but patriotism would have me point out that the Australian design was only created in 1901 and not given royal assent until 1954.
| ||||
 | ||||
| | | | |
Descriptions written by: Gavin Kingsley | ||
| | |