The flag now known as the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (Māori: ''Te Whakaputanga o te rangatiratanga o Niu Tirene'') or Te Kara (
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
for 'the colours') is a flag originally designed by
Henry Williams Henry Williams may refer to:
Politicians
*Henry Williams (activist) (born 2000), chief of staff of the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign
*Henry Williams (MP for Northamptonshire) (died 1558), Member of Parliament (MP) for Northamptonshire ( ...
to represent the
New Zealand Church Missionary Society
The New Zealand Church Missionary Society is a mission society working within the Anglican Communion and Protestant, Evangelical Anglicanism. The parent organisation was founded in England in 1799. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) sent missiona ...
. It was adopted as a national flag by a group of
rangatira
In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...
(Māori chieftains) in 1834 and is today more closely associated with the
Māori people
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...
.
Description
![Te_Kara_-_The_United_Tribes_Flag,_1834_(34308840195)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Te_Kara_-_The_United_Tribes_Flag%2C_1834_%2834308840195%29.jpg)
Te Kara is a
St. George's cross flag. In the
canton is another St. George's cross on a field of blue with four white stars in each quadrant. The flag adopted by the United Tribes in 1834 had black
fimbriation
In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation is the placement of small stripes of contrasting colour around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but often simply due to the designer's subjective ...
around the canton cross,
though it was changed to white shortly after, following the
rule of tincture
The most basic rule of heraldic design is the rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour (Humphrey Llwyd, 1568). This means that the heraldic metals or and argent (gold and silver, represented by yellow and white) s ...
.
Flags without any fimbriation have also been used.
The 1834 flag's stars had eight points, which is still the most common number,
though five- and six-pointed versions have also been used.
The exact meaning of the flag's design is not specified in early documents. Generally, the St. George's cross represents England, having been used as its
national flag
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...
since the 12th Century. The St. George's cross may represent designer Williams' affiliation with the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, it being common practice for its member churches to fly the cross with the arms of their diocese in the canton. The stars have been speculated to represent the
Southern Cross
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
, but 20th Century historian and New Zealand flag scholar James Laurenson argues they are stars of England, religious symbols with roots in British
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
.
History
1823-1833: Use as Church Missionary Society flag
The design was first used by the
Evangelical Anglican
Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...
group New Zealand Church Missionary Society.
Henry Williams, the society's leader from 1823 to
his dismissal from the society in 1849, was a former sailor with the British navy and a naval enthusiast. It was likely his experience with
naval ensign
A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign.
It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ver ...
s that inspired him to create a flag for his society.
Williams styled the flag of the Church Missionary Society like the
British White Ensign, which is also a St. George's Cross with a flag in the canton. The flag Williams designed was used by the society on its ships and at its mission stations.
In 1830, the ship ''Sir George Murray'', the first European-style ship to be built in New Zealand, sailed to Australia. Rangatira and part-owners of the ship Patuone and Taonui flew a
kaitaka, a traditional woven mat on the masthead of the ship.
Upon arriving in Sydney, the ship was impounded after authorities deemed the kaitaka did not meet the British maritime law that required all trading ships to fly a national
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
. New Zealand was not then a part of the British Empire and could not use the British flag.
![McDonnel_New_Zealand_Flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/McDonnel_New_Zealand_Flag.svg)
After the ''Murray'' was impounded it was sold at auction to Thomas McDonnell, it flew another flag as the national New Zealand flag, though it never had official recognition. McDonnell's flag was similar to Williams' Church Missionary Society flag, likely also inspired by the white ensign. It contained a St. George's cross with a blue canton charged with a half moon.
1833–1840: Use as National Flag of New Zealand
![Proposed_flag_of_New_Zealand_1834](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Proposed_flag_of_New_Zealand_1834.svg)
In 1833, James Busby arrived in New Zealand with the official role of
British resident
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indir ...
. One of his first acts while in the position was to identify a national ensign. Busby reasoned a flag would resolve the issues with Australian customs authorities, and give the Māori a sense of collective nationality.
Busby wrote to the
Colonial Secretary of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Alexander Macleay
Alexander Macleay (also spelt McLeay) MLC FLS FRS (24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society, a fellow of the Royal Society and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.
Life
Macleay was born on Ro ...
to with the idea, to which Macleay agreed. Macleay suggested his own design with nine alternating stripes of blue and white with a Union Jack in the canton, but Busby declined to include the flag in the later vote, deeming it to not have enough red, a colour favored by the Māori.
With the Australian colonial governments blessing, Busby set about selecting a flag for New Zealand. Busby recruited the head Church Missionary Society reverend Henry Williams to create the designs.
Three designs, including the Church Missionary Society flag, were sent back to New South Wales to be manufactured. On 20 March 1834, with three proposed flags flying underneath the English flag, Busby held a vote at his residence. Missionaries, naval captains, and 30 of the local rangatira were in attendance. Though only the rangatira were allowed to vote, debate among them was suppressed
and the vote was influenced by the Europeans and Americans in attendance who suggested which flags the chiefs should vote for.
The Church Missionary Society flag received twelve votes, winning by a two-vote margin. The two other flags by Williams receiving 10 and six respectively, with two rangatira abstaining from voting.
Busby declared it the first "national act" of the New Zealand chiefs.
Upon identifying the results, Te Kara was raised from a flagpole and the HMS ''Alligator'', the ship that had brought the manufactured flags back from New South Wales, gave the flag a
21-gun salute
A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...
.
Busby wrote a letter to
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
to request his recognition of the flag. When he received a letter in the affirmative in September of that year, there was again a formal flag raising and a celebration. The design continue to serve as the flag of New Zealand for the following six years.
1840–present: Use as a Māori flag
In 1839, the
British Crown
The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
appointed naval officer
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Hobson was dispatched from London in July 1 ...
with the task of establishing a
Crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
in New Zealand. On 5 February 1840, just eight days after arriving in New Zealand, William Hobson oversaw the signing of
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...
, a process during which more than 500 Māori relinquished certain land and rights to the British Crown, though the content of the treaty and the circumstances of its signing have been a subject of controversy ever since. In the eyes of the British colonial powers, the treaty formalizsd New Zealand place as colony of the United Kingdom, therefore making its official flag the flag of the United Kingdom.
In May of that year, while the treaty was still being distributed around the country, Hobson received word that Te Kara was being flown by the
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
, a commercial enterprise with a business model based on systematic colonization.
Hobson quickly wrote documents declaring absolute sovereignty over New Zealand on behalf of the United Kingdom, and sent armed soldiers
Port Nicholson
A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...
(now Wellington Harbour) to remove the flag, which was perceived by Hobson as a symbol of independence.
A similar incident occurred on 30 June when Hobson sent an armed party to remove Te Kara from a flagstaff in
Petone
Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach".
Europeans first settled in Pe ...
. The guards raised the Union Jack on the flagstaff the following day.
The replacement of the New Zealand flag by the Union Jack became a point of contention among the Māori, many of whom were becoming increasingly unhappy with the outcome of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Hōne Heke
Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai ( 1807/1808 – 7 August 1850), born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was ...
, a rangatira who was the first to sign the treaty, had been assured by the flag designer Henry Williams that the document protected the authority of the Māori leaders. Expecting the Māori would have equal status with the colonial government, Heke believed Te Kara should fly alongside the British flag.
On 8 July 1844, with Heke's knowledge and approval, a party of Māori to cut down the flagstaff at
Flagstaff Hill Flagstaff Hill usually refers to a hill on which a flag was erected. It may refer to:
Place names Australia
* Flagstaff Hill, near Linton, Victoria
* Flagstaff Hill, Melbourne, a hill in the historic Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne
* Flagstaff Hill, S ...
in
Kororāreka
Russell, known as Kororāreka in the early 19th century, was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island.
History and culture
Māori settl ...
(now Russell) that flew the British flag.
A little more than a week later, Heke proposed in a letter to Hobson that the flagstaff should fly Te Kara, setting a date to meet to discus the proposal. Hobson did not meet with the Māori party at the appointed time, and the colonial powers at Russel raised the British flag on the staff once again. Heke removed the flagstaff three more times, escalating in the
Flagstaff War
The Flagstaff War, also known as Heke's War, Hōne Heke's Rebellion and the Northern War, was fought between 11 March 1845 and 11 January 1846 in and around the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The conflict is best remembered for the actions of Hō ...
. After several major conflicts, such as the
Battle of Kororāreka
The Battle of Kororāreka, or the Burning of Kororāreka, on 11 March 1845, was an engagement of the Flagstaff War in New Zealand. Following the establishment of United Kingdom, British control of the islands, war broke out with a small group of ...
, the
Battle of Ōhaeawai
The Battle of Ōhaeawai, part of the Flagstaff War, was fought in July 1845 at Ōhaeawai in Northland, New Zealand. The battle was between British forces and their allies from the local Ngāpuhi tribe of Māori on one side, and other Ngāpuhi, le ...
, and the siege of
Ruapekapeka
Ruapekapeka, a pā southeast of Kawakawa in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is one of the largest and most complex pā in New Zealand; Ngāpuhi designed it specifically to counter the cannon of British forces.
The earthworks can still be ...
, the flagstaff was ultimately removed and neither Te Kara nor the British flag flew from Flagstaff Hill.
![1888-1889_Natives_Tour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/1888-1889_Natives_Tour.jpg)
The Union Jack continued to be the 'superior flag' of New Zealand through 1965 even as, beginning in 1867,
modified blue ensigns were adopted as the flags of the New Zealand.
However, some Māori people continued to fly Te Kara through the turn of the 20th Century. It was used by Māori sovereignty movements such as
Kingitanga and
Te Kotahitanga
The Kotahitanga movement was an autonomous Māori parliament convened annually in New Zealand from 1892 until 1902. Though not recognised by the New Zealand Government, the Māori Parliament was an influential body while it lasted. By 1902 its ro ...
.
It was used as the symbol of the touring 'native' rugby team. By the early 1900s Te Kara reputation as a flag of the Māori people, rather than of the nation of New Zealand, was solidified, and it began being identified as 'the Māori flag' in popular press.
1970–present: Use in protest movements and the selection of new Māori flag
![Hikoi_008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Hikoi_008.jpg)
Te Kara gained a resurgence in use from the 1970s to the turn of the 21st Century, in conjunction with the modern
Māori protest movement
The Māori protest movement is a broad indigenous-rights movement in New Zealand (). While there were a range of conflicts between Māori and European immigrants prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the signing provided a le ...
.
Since 1974, Te Kara has flown below the national New Zealand flag at the historic flagstaff at Waitangi. In 1990, members of the Māori independence group Te Kawariki created
Tino Rangatiratanga
' is a Māori language term that translates literally to 'highest chieftainship' or 'unqualified chieftainship', but is also translated as "self-determination", "sovereignty" and "absolute sovereignty". The very translation of is important to ...
, a new flag to represent the Māori people that quickly gained popularity. In 2008, after pressure from Māori organisers, Prime Minister
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to ...
agreed to fly a Māori flag from
Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and the ...
provided there was consensus on which flag to fly. A nationwide consultation process found that 80% of voters, most of whom were Māori, preferred the newer Tino Rangatiratanga design as a symbol of the Māori people.
With this voting process, Tino Rangatiratanga became the national Māori flag.
Since 2020, Te Kara appeared in protests against the COVID-19 vaccine and New Zealand's COVID restrictions. Its use by the protestors, most of whom are non-Māori, has been criticised by Māori people. Researchers studying COVID misinformation in New Zealand associated Te Kara's presence in the demonstrations as consistent with the overall increase in the number of white supremacists using Māori culture to promote their agendas.
Modern Perception
Te Kara continues to be used by some Māori to represent their nation and culture, though it has fallen out of favor among the majority of Māori people. In the 2008 search to identify the national Māori flag, Te Kara, the New Zealand flag, and the
Red Ensign received only 20% of the votes combined.
In a hui with the flag consideration panel for the
2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums
Two New Zealand flag referendums were held by the New Zealand Government in November/December 2015 and March 2016 to determine the nation's flag. The voting resulted in the retention of the current flag of New Zealand.
Shortly after the refer ...
, Māori representatives said Te Kara should not be considered as a potential alternative national flag. The minority of Māori groups continuing to prefer Te Kara have received pressure from organizers and activists to adopt the national Māori flag.
Criticism
Te Kara's use as a Māori flag has drawn criticism from some historians and activists, particularly because of the circumstances of its adoption in 1834. Historian Vincent O'Malley argues by not allowing the rangatira to consult with their iwi at the time of the vote, the organizers violated the traditional Māori decision-making process in which rangatira responded to the will of the public rather than deciding on behalf of them. O'Malley compares Busby's process to 'manufacturing chiefly consent.' Historian Gavin McClean calls into question European's desire to adopt the flag, describing Te Kara as a
flag of convenience
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...
for Europeans and the protection of their vessels.
Others have noted that, despite only Māori participating in the vote, all of the designs were created by an English missionary without consultation of any Māori. Linda Munn, an activist involved in the creation of national Māori flag, said Te Kara 'represented the patronising control that
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...
on-Māori or white New Zealandershave always sought to exert over Maori independence.’ Other criticisms highlight the fact that the rangatira at the vote only represented a small contingent of New Zealand's Māori population. Contemporary New Zealand politician
Jerningham Wakefield
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (25 June 1820 – 3 March 1879), known as Jerningham Wakefield, was the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. As such, he was closely associated with his father's interest in colonisation. He worked for the New Zealand ...
argued the consideration of a flag wasn't 'even known to any of the native tribes out of the small peninsula which forms about a twelfth part of the country.'
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:United Tribes flag
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
National symbols of New Zealand
Māori flags