2. 1834 - 1840 The Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand
New Zealand's first flag was designed by a senior missionary of the Church
Missionary Society, sewn up by an Australian and voted on by 25 Maori Chiefs from
the Far North. It came to be known as the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand
in recognition of the title used by the same chiefs when they met again at Waitangi
to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1835. To Maori, the United Tribes flag
was significant in that Britain had recognised New Zealand as an independent
nation with its own flag, and in doing so, had acknowledged the mana of the Maori
chiefs.
3. 1840 - 1902 The Union Jack
Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840, the Union Jack
replaced the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand as the official flag of New
Zealand. The new Lieutenant -Governor, William Hobson, forcibly removed the
United Tribes flag from the Bay of Islands, however, some Maori, including Hone
Heke, believed that Maori should have the right to fly the United Tribes flag
alongside the Union Jack, in recognition of their equal status with the government.
Heke's repeated felling of the flagstaff at Kororareka between 1844 and 1846 was a
vivid rejection of the Union Jack, which was viewed as a symbol of British power
over Maori.
4. 1902- present The Current Flag
At the end of the nineteenth century the blue ensign with the Southern Cross was a
flag for maritime purposes only but it had gradually come to be used on land, even
though the Union Jack remained the legal flag of New Zealand. With the outbreak of
the South African War in 1899 and its associated patriotism and flag-waving, the
confusion surrounding the correct flag was an embarrassment to Premier Seddon. In
1902 Seddon instituted the Blue Ensign with the stars of the Southern Cross the legal
flag of New Zealand.
7. WHY
Because I find the original flag
better just because and that I
don’t see any reason why we
should change the flag just
because most of the other
country's on the commonwealth
change their flags and no longer
have the union jack on their flag
doesn't mean we should
