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Read more about our history.
Why even have a flag?
What types of flags have we had?
1. Because nations need to know who’s who.
Every territory needs a flag. Otherwise no-one could distinguish their civilian and naval ships, diplomatic missions and other representatives, from those of other territories.(Which could be very tricky, especially when confusion is compounded by ammunition.)
2. Because we got in trouble when we didn’t.
You may agree with us that a new New Zealand flag is long overdue. But the need is nowhere near as urgent as it was in the 1830s.In 1830, a ship built in Hokianga, the Sir George Murray, was seized by Customs in Sydney under British naval law for sailing into port without being registered or flying a flag.When British Resident James Busby arrived in New Zealand in 1833, he set about getting the local chiefs to agree on a New Zealand flag that would allow the not-yet-British country to trade with its major trading partner without getting its goods impounded.And so it was that the United Tribes flag became New Zealand’s first flag in 1834.
The Koru.
The Rauponga.
Two examples of adaptations of fern elements in Maori patterns.
The emblems of New Zealand have evolved on two tangents:
1. Geometrical.
The Union Jack on the canton (top left quarter) of the current New Zealand flag is the overlaying of three flags:
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the Cross of Saint Andrew counter-charged with
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the Cross of Saint Patrick, over all
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the Cross of Saint George.
(The English Crown was absorbed into the Scottish after Elizabeth I didn’t produce an heir.)
These symbols date back to the Crusades, where Christians flew crosses to distinguish themselves from other religious symbols.
In Europe, the Greek Cross appears on the flags of Greece and Switzerland, and the Scandinavian Cross on those of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
Crosses have been used on all four New Zealand flags – from the two St George Crosses of the United Tribes flag to our three flags featuring Union Jack.
Elsewhere, flags have discarded the geometrical approach and used ancient symbols that represent their faith or identity.
These symbols have evolved to modern, stylised emblems that appear on national flags today.
2. Natural.
While many traditional Polynesian patterns incorporated elements from the feather, fish bones, and insects, in New Zealand patterns evolved from the land.
And the most notable of these have been inspired by the fern (ponga), either as a curled up young koru or a fully unfurled silver fern.
(Left) Portrait of a New Zealand man, Sydney Parkinson, 1784, probably from a sketch made in 1769.
(Right) a typical stern post of a waka.
Please click on image to view an enlarged version.
Why change the flag?
Why the silver fern?
1. Because our flag should scream New Zealand the way our sports uniforms do.
Our unique black sports uniform with its famous silver fern gets New Zealand noticed and admired.A small country needs that. It puts us on the radar for other benefits, like tourist dollars.Vexillologist Roman Mars says the maple leaf flag makes us like Canada more. A bold New Zealand flag would do the same for us.
2. Because ‘Little Australia’ is not our best look.
A five-star hotel trumps a four-star one.Our four-star Southern Cross says much about how our British-born leaders saw us when they chose our flag.Richard Seddon called New Zealand “God’s Own Country”, then gave us a flag that said, “Britain’s Own Country, not quite as good as the one next door”.We must correct King Dick’s mistake. New Zealand is its own country – a winning country, and no one’s poor cousin.
3. Because the world still can’t tell us apart.
If, after 113 years, a flag is still being confused with its neighbour’s, then it’s not doing its job.Many Kiwis still can’t recognize their own flag. They’ll be in no doubt about The Black & Silver.
4. Because we’re not even in it.
Alone among the few remaining British colonial flags still flying, the New Zealand flag contains no symbol unique to the country it purports to represent.Its Union Jack says “British Empire”.Its blue background says “somewhere in the sea”.Its stars say “bottom half the world”.And the reduced number of those stars says, “Little Australia”.Why waste cloth saying where we are, who our parents are, and who our big brother is?Our flag should tell the world who we are, why we’re special, and what we stand for.
5. Because it was a politicians’ flag, not the people’s flag.
When Premier Richard Seddon farewelled the First New Zealand Contingent to the Boer War in 1899, he famously proclaimed that New Zealanders would fight for “one flag, one Queen, one tongue and one country – Britain.”‘King Dick’ was an Empire man, born in Britain – unlike a growing number of his ‘subjects’ (he was a bit of an autocrat) – and having come here via Australia.When it came time three years later for him to choose a New Zealand flag, he opted for one that did more justice to his previous colony of residence than the one he was now leading.If he had any thoughts about asking the New Zealand public what they thought of a flag that made them look like Little Australians, he did not follow through on them.
6. Because its champion was a racist male chauvinist.
Not only was King Dick Seddon opposed to women getting the vote, but he believed his “God’s Own Country” was no place for Chinese immigrants, the so-called “Yellow Peril” whom he compared to monkeys.In his first political speech in 1879, Seddon had declared New Zealand did not wish her shores to be "deluged with Asiatic Tartars. I would sooner address white men than these Chinese. You can't talk to them, you can't reason with them. All you can get from them is 'No savvy'.
Successive governments had also shown a lack of firmness in dealing with Maori, he said: "The colony, instead of importing Gatling guns with which to fight Maori, should wage war with locomotives” ... pushing through roads and railways and compulsorily purchasing "the land on both sides".
Seddon was a Freemason, who while premier in 1898 became Grand Master of the New Zealand Lodge.
In 1902, he promoted to national flag the four-star maritime flag designed by fellow Freemason Arthur Hastings Markham to resemble the Roman Christian Cross.
7. Because the Army hardly used it.
When our soldiers returned from the Boer War to a new flag in 1902, they were wearing silver ferns on their uniforms, and the United Tribes flag was inscribed on their medals.They were greeted with an 'official' flag of little relevance.
The military in its early years rarely showed support for the New Zealand flag.
While in 1915 thousands of silver ferns crossed the beaches at Gallipoli on lemon squeezer hats and tunics, they were joined by only one New Zealand flag.
It wasn’t until 1939 and the Battle of the River Plate that the flag was first flown in battle by HMNZS Achilles.
(A flag was required to be flown under maritime laws and the rules of war.)
8. Because change worked a treat for our anthem.
In 1977, God Defend New Zealand was elevated to equal status with God Save The Queen.No one here has played the British anthem since. Now we need a flag to complete our national identity.
9. Because who wears their parents’ clothes?
By continuing to fly a flag of an extinct empire, we look like the old Japanese soldier in the jungle still fighting World War II.We should be grateful to Mother England for a great start. But it’s 68 years since we won independence. It’s time we declared it.
10. Because the New Zealand flag is an Australian flag!
It was designed in Queensland as a reduced version of Crux Australis (Southern Cross), by a man who never set foot in New Zealand, for a British Governor for whom New Zealand was just another colonial posting.
11. Because $6 is cheap for centuries of self-esteem.
$26 million is $6 each. For that we get to choose a world class flag that does our country proud forever.That’s a drop in the bucket when spread over the many centuries it will fly.
12. Because love for the current flag is greatly exaggerated.
Most who say they love it just hate John Key – and the thought of paying $6 to change it.Soldiers hardly saw our flag in wartime, let alone fought under it. There was one at Gallipoli – along with about 30,000 silver fern badges.Ten posters from that era show the defaced blue ensign drawn wrong ten different ways!
13. Because the change process is uniquely democratic.
In 2014, Prime Minister John Key used his considerable political capital to introduce a process to consider alternative flag options.
While we deplore Mr Key’s shameful abandonment of his first preference for a black silver fern flag as soon as ISIS raised their ugly imitation, we congratulate him for making the first genuine attempt by any New Zealand politician to open debate on the nation’s identity and symbols.
The National government is conducting the fairest and most democratic flag consideration process probably in the history of nations.
Would critics of the process rather the prime minister just rammed his favourite flag through Parliament, as Richard Seddon did in 1902?
14. Because it’s the same process we used to get MMP.
An appointed panel will choose a range of alternative options.(This is the only undemocratic part of the process. It’s a bit frightening considering none of the twelve appointees has any design experience, and some have well-known political agendas. We must hope they’ll be governed by good taste, a sense of vision, and the love of their country.)Then the public will be asked to rank the options in the first referendum, then to choose between the most favoured option and the current flag in the second.
15. Because we won’t get another chance.
We alone, of all the New Zealanders who’ve ever lived and may ever live, have this one opportunity to distil our nation’s highest value into a flag for the ages.We should accept that responsibility, and choose one that honours New Zealand excellence.
He originally preferred a silver fern on black flag, but distanced himself from black when ISIS militiamen began appearing on TV waving their own black flags.
(Left) In 1898, Richard Seddon, then premier, became the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of New Zealand (30 years after he had first joined the Masons).
(Right) Thomas Bracken, author of God Defend New Zealand.
A traditional waiata (song) performed to welcome a dignatory onto a marae (meeting house) or pa (village). Note the use of fern fronds and the colour of performer's clothing.
(Courtesy of gg.govt.nz: the Governor-General, Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, being welcome at Rātana Pā, 25 January 2012.)
A cap from the 1888 England tour by the New Zealand Native Football Rugby team.
(Top Left) 1865 war grave of a Taranaki militiaman.
(Top right and bottom) Pre deployment portraits of New Zealand Army soldiers who fought in the Second Boer War 1899-1902.
1. Because it’s New Zealand’s guiding light.
In the old times, Maori used to lay upturned silver fern fronds on the floor of the forest to point the way home for travellers in the moonlight.In the same guiding spirit of the fern, three of New Zealand’s greatest achievers have had the honour of leading the world…
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down into the smallest thing – the atom (Ernest Rutherford)
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out into the biggest thing – space (William Pickering), and
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up to the summit of the highest peak – Everest (Edmund Hillary).
What better symbol for Kiwis making their way in the world?
2. Because it’s been standing for us longer than the flag.
The silver fern is our original and most enduring national emblem.
It’s New Zealand’s native fern, first worn by the legendary Natives rugby team of 1888.
It was standing for New Zealand fourteen years before the former maritime ensign was promoted to national flag.
It became the Army’s emblem eleven years later in 1899 – three years before the flag was adopted – and it’s been our national emblem ever since.
As with the maple leaf in Canada, only the silver fern has the combination of beauty, acceptance and dignity required to do justice to a New Zealand flag.
3. Because it’s an unfurled koru.
The silver fern or ponga is a fully unfurled koru. The young koru literally “growing up”into a full-fronded fern signifies our coming of age from many proud tribes to one proud nation.
4. Because it’s Maori, yet non-racial.
While the koru remains a Maori symbol, the fully-grown fern has evolved from the silver hallmark of our native bush to the distilled essence of all New Zealand.The silver fern is accepted by those of all races, creeds, values and most political agendas.(It’s on the Labour Party logo, and the National prime minister wants it on his flag. The New Zealand First leader curiously prefers to put Britain first on our flag, despite his party’s colours being black and white.)
To Maori, the silver fern represents many core cultural elements.
When Maori first arrived in Aotearoa around the time of Magna Carta (1215), fern root became an essential source of food.
They used other parts of the fern for clothing, shelter and illumination – this latter use inspiring us for the silver fern’s ability to guide those travelling through the forest by moonlight.
The silver fern's beautiful colour and shape make it a popular artistic and ceremonial adornment. It is waved during welcoming visitors on to a .
The (the curled-up frond which matures into a fern) represents the unfolding of new life – how everything is reborn and continues.
It represents renewal, hope for the future, life, growth, strength and peace. [Source]
Maoridom’s first reported post-colonial use of the silver fern as an emblem was by the legendary 1888-89 New Zealand Natives rugby team (mostly Maori plus a few Pakeha) on their epic 118-match odyssey through Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
(The first full New Zealand team had toured Australia in 1884 in blue jerseys with a gold fern.)
The tour organiser, captain and coach of the Natives, Joe Warbrick, chose the silver fern as his emblem, inspired by the Maori proverb:
“Mate atu he toa ara mai he toa.”
“When one warrior dies, another arises.”
“Mate atu he tetakura ara mai he tetakura.”
“When one fern dies, another arises.”
What better metaphor for continuity of purpose?
Despite a punishing playing schedule unrivalled before or since, the colonials won 78 of its 107 rugby matches. (Another eleven were played under Australian Rules).
These included a victory over Ireland, who have been trying without success to beat men in black jerseys and silver ferns for the last 127 years.
The team’s powerful display of national identity helped to cement the silver fern and black as New Zealand’s national emblem and colour.
In 1892, one of the Natives players, Tom Ellison, not only went on to help found the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, but also captained its first team.
The board adopted Ellison’s recommendation that the uniform be the same as that of the Natives team, except for white knickerbockers instead of black.
In 1903, the Natives’ all-black look returned for New Zealand’s first full international against Australia.
5. Because the British were crazy about ferns too.
There was a fern-collecting craze in Victorian England which spread to New Zealand.
Two Aucklanders, Eric Craig and Thomas Cranwell, produced and sold albums of pressed ferns.
In 1880, fern enthusiast H. B. Dobbie used an early form of photography to produce a book illustrating 148 New Zealand ferns. They’re now known as ‘blue books’ because the ferns appear as white silhouettes on a blue background.
The common love for the silver fern shared by both Maori and settler made it the perfect choice of emblem for the fledgling country.
6. Because it helped put us on the map.
From the hats and collars of our troops in the Boer War to the huge embroidered ferns on the black jerseys of our pioneering rugby teams, the silver fern was central to building a sense of New Zealand nationhood.
At the Olympic Games, New Zealand first competed in 1908 and 1912 as part of the Australasian team. While the colours were Australia’s, the crest on the 1908 uniform included a kiwi and two silver ferns.
For the next Olympics in Antwerp in 1920, the first New Zealand team of two runners, a rower and a swimmer wore black uniforms emblazoned with silver ferns.
With classic Kiwi disregard for consistency, as you can see below the designs of those four ferns were all different.
Unlike the Canadian maple leaf, the silver fern is not standardized to this day, and many so-called silver fern designs are structured more like sword ferns, feathers, hedgecutters or knives.
7. Because it’s so much more than a sports emblem.
Just as the fern is the full extension of the koru, so the silver fern has evolved from its first use as a Maori rugby emblem in 1888 to a New Zealand Army badge in 1899 to the logo motif of a large and growing and number of New Zealand organisations, companies and departments of state.(While some claim to be attached to our colonial flag, many thousands of New Zealanders have silver ferns attached to them!)
Maori adopted many European symbols, and the British integrated Maori symbols into their own.
Take the laurel leaf, which adorned the braiding and emblems of Royal Naval officers, including our founding Governor William Hobson. Over time, laurels have been replaced with silver ferns.
Many believe that the laurels on the medal and bar of the New Zealand Cross, introduced in 1869 as the highest New Zealand award for military bravery, were actually silver ferns.
The confusion was remedied in 1999, when the award was reintroduced as New Zealand's highest award for civilian bravery. On the new New Zealand Cross, silver ferns replaced the laurels.
The mutual recognition by European and Maori of the silver fern generated the first truly New Zealand emblem.
In the early colonial period, the silver fern was widely used as a military emblem by, among others, the local Taranaki militia.
It first became an official New Zealand Army emblem with the deployment of the First Contingent to the Second Boer War in 1899.
By the time they returned in 1902, the government had approved what is currently the New Zealand flag without consultation.
Every New Zealand Defence Force emblem since 1899 has included the silver fern, and every New Zealand soldier lying in a foreign field has the silver fern engraved on his gravestone.
Because military, government and sporting organisations are the most likely to need representative emblems, it was through New Zealand’s divisions, departments and teams that the silver fern evolved from a cultural icon to a formalised national symbol.
But while our soldiers and sportsmen were already wearing the silver fern as their national emblem, the government dragged its heels.
In fact, the government was completely out of step with the feelings of the public on the matter.
While New Zealand troops in South Africa during the Second Boer War wore the silver fern cap badge, the government back home promoted the four-star Southern Cross () maritime flag to national flag in response to Australia's adoption the previous year of a flag containing the same constellation with five stars.
We’ve been telling the world we’re Little Australia ever since.
It wasn’t long before the silver fern started to appear on New Zealand exported goods and it’s become an increasingly popular choice for company logos.
During the economic upheaval of the 1980s and 90s, several politicians suggested changing the flag, without much support.
Not supporting an idea because of the person who proposed it, rather than the merits of the case (a symptom of “the Tall Poppy Syndrome"), has been a consistent theme in New Zealand politics since its inception. The flag debate has not been immune.
Outside of the flag debate, however, New Zealand organisations have been enthusiastic adopters of silver fern-on-black logos.
These range from sporting and cultural bodies to corporations to most departments of state.
8. Because the fern has been on our coat of arms since 1956.
A long debate 59 years ago resulted in a new coat of arms which diplomats welcomed in the wake of the Suez Crisis for being less closely linked to Great Britain.The female figure and the Maori rangatira no longer stood on an an elaborate scroll, but instead were positioned gently atop two fern leaves.It’s now time for the silver fern to take its rightful place on our nation’s flag.
9. Because it’s elegant.
(But only when drawn properly!)
A great silver fern is a thing of beauty. But sadly, all silver fern designs are not created equal.
Ironically and unforgiveably, the Rugby Union on turning professional sacrificed their stylish 1970s All Blacks fern for an amateurish design that looks like a cross between a feather, a dagger and a set of steak knives.
True All Blacks fans regard this desecration of a national treasure much as Afghans regard the blowing up of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban.
Beautiful silver ferns are not angular and sharp, but elegant and smooth.
(And they look like silver ferns, not sword ferns, kowhai , acacia, or other leaves – let alone knives or white feathers.)
Why black?
1. Because it’s thundered “New Zealand” since 1888.
To the proud New Zealander, black is special. A magical, mystical, powerful, beautiful colour – the epitome of style.
(Especially when combined with white.)
Like all colours – moody blue, fiery red, cowardly yellow, jealous green – black has its dark side, and no shortage of detractors.
While high achieving New Zealanders dream of wearing it under a silver fern, the of Gordon McLauchlan’s famous book gaze at our time-honoured colour and see only funerals, fundamentalists and muddied oafs.
Theirs is the negative view of New Zealand that proponents of The Black & Silver seek to defeat.
2. Because it established our identity.
Perhaps uniquely, New Zealand’s nationhood was forged as much in sport as in battle. Our pioneering rugby teams put New Zealand on the map for their winning flair and bold colour – black.
The name “All Blacks” was coined on the 1905 Originals’ tour of the UK, France and America, reputedly as a misprint after a British journalist called the fast, high-scoring team “all backs”.
The team’s narrow and controversial loss to Wales after 27 straight wins was their only defeat in 35 matches.
The unprecedented success of the men in the black jerseys with their huge embroidered silver ferns came as a shock to the Mother Country, and a fillip to her growing colony.
Our teams kept winning, and black became the inspirational colour of New Zealand in all fields – military, corporate and departments of state.
Air New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra are just three of many proud New Zealand organisations to now sport the national colours.
The emergence of black as our national colour is the result of the convergence of two cultures who had similar attitudes and applications of the colour.
These similar values of status have evolved into a culture of equality, equity, opportunity, and ambition.
Nationhood was slow to develop in New Zealand until the advent of international sport.
The first organized sporting tour by a New Zealand team was the 1888-89 tour of Britain and Australia by the New Zealand Native Football Representatives rugby team. They chose to wear the silver fern on the left breast of an all black uniform.
The choice of black by the team continued the tradition of black as the bicultural colour of status.
The first fully New Zealand representative sports team to tour beyond Australia was the "All Blacks", also known as "The Originals" in 1905.
Other New Zealand sporting bodies, starting with the Olympic movement, adopted the colour as New Zealand's national colour.
A black Ford GT40 Mk2 with white racing stripes powered Bruce McLaren to victory at Le Mans in 1966.
Ford chose the colours to welcome the Kiwi duo of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon into the team. For good measure, they then added a silver fern to each side of the car.
In the first three seasons of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport from 2005, New Zealand finished fourth, second and second in a car christened ‘Black Beauty’.
A similar moniker had been attached to Sir Peter Blake's NZL32 in the 1995 America's Cup. When he asked his team what colour they wanted, the unanimous response was "black!"
The legend of the victorious ‘Black Magic’ was born, with a large silver fern on both sides of its hull.
The tradition of black as the national colour continues today as a colour of status, excellence and style.
3. Because it’s the colour of respect.
Black’s critics love to call it the colour of mourning. But aren’t they forgetting something? Why do people wear black to funerals?
It’s to show respect for a person they admired.
In all walks of life, people who want to show respect and dress to impress – be they Nobel laureates, concert pianists, presidents, professors or priests – wear black.
So can a country.
Many early settlers also noticed the similarities and named the tui the 'parson’s bird'.
Such similarities between the European and Maori cultures became a common bond.
As more officials arrived in New Zealand, such as Bishop Selwyn, James Busby, and William Hobson, black and white became the mutual symbols of rank.
When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, it wasn't lost on observers that the British officials wore predominantly black, and black and white feathers were much in evidence in the cloaks of the Maori chiefs.
At the reading of the Treaty, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson wore black with silver braid – the colours of kawanatanga (governorship).
Our founding relationship was cemented by signatories adorned in a mutually recognized colour of respect – black.
Long before Maori and Pakeha joined forces in sport and battle, black was the colour of mutual respect.
4. Because black is the premium fashion colour.
For the defence of New Zealand’s national colour, we call an Italian, a Frenchman and a Frenchwoman of renowned taste:
Gianni Versace, fashion designer: “Black is the quintessence of simplicity and elegance”.
Yves Saint Laurent, fashion designer: “Black is the liaison which connects art and fashion”.
Coco Chanel, fashion designer: “
One of the most famous black dresses was designed by Hubert de Givenchy and was worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Style gurus the world over luxuriate in black jackets and little black dresses, black Porsches, black limousines, black lingerie and black satin sheets.
Black is chic, sleek, sexy – and all ours.
5. Because of its rich history.
The ancient Egyptians also felt positive about black. It was the colour of the rich soil flooded by the Nile. And of Anubis, god of the underworld, who protected the dead against evil.
In the Europe of the 1300s, high-quality black dyes allowed garments of deep, rich black.
Soon, all the powerful people – magistrates, government officials, bankers and merchants – were wearing expensive black robes and gowns as a sign of prestige.
The elegance of black quickly caught on with the nobility, via the Dukes of Milan, Orleans and Burgundy, King Richard II of England and the Spanish Habsburgs.
By the end of the 1500s, European rulers saw black as the colour of power, dignity, humility and temperance.
The glossy black fur of the Russian and Polish sable was the finest and most expensive fur in Europe, used to trim the robes and gowns of royalty. In heraldry, the word for black is sable.
Black’s other great contribution to the Middle Ages was in the form of a new black printer’s ink – a mixture of soot, turpentine and walnut oil.
It didn’t fade or blur like the bluer inks. And that allowed printing presses to mass produce words (and black and white engravings) and kick start the world’s first learning revolution.
During the French Revolution, red tended to dominate via Madame Guillotine.But afterwards, black was back as the colour of the Romantic movement.
Leading Romantic poets like Shelley and Byron invariably dressed in black with a white shirt, open collar and scarf.
New cheap synthetic black dyes and the industrial production of textiles allowed ordinary people to buy good quality black clothes for the first time.
In the 1800s, black gradually became the most popular colour of business dress of the upper and middle classes in England, the Continent and America.
In the two centuries since, the business suit and the black dress have ensured that the best-dressed people continue to wear any colour as long as it’s black.
6. Because artists revere it.
Black dominated literature and fashion in the 19th century, and played a large role in painting.
Édouard Manet used blacks for their dramatic effect. The French impressionist Pissarro told Henri Matisse, “Manet is stronger than us all – he made light with black.”
Of his painting Suzanne in the conservatory, The Guardian observed, “Manet's palette runs through mauve, silver, primrose and cobalt to innumerable blacks from glinting jet to dusty charcoal, with every colour of white.”
Its review of The Luncheon talked of “the burning black of the boy's jacket.”
Matisse loved black too, saying, “Black is a force. I used black as ballast to simplify the construction ... Since the impressionists it seems to have made continuous progress, taking a more and more important part in color orchestration, comparable to that of the double bass as a solo instrument.”
Auguste Renoir used luminous blacks, especially in his portraits. When someone told him that black was not a color, Renoir replied: “What makes you think that? Black is the queen of colours. I always detested Prussian blue… I always came back to ivory black.”
7. Because black means mana to Maori.
In Maori culture, three colours dominated because of their availability in nature:
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mangu/pango (black) – representing Te Korekore (the realm of potential being).
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mā (white) – representing Te Ao Marama (the realm of being and light).
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whero (red) – the colour of tapu (nobility, divinity, and power).
The chief colours of rank in Maoridom were black and white.
These colours were available from the feathers of seagulls, huia and tui. Many birds were seen as chiefly.
The huia, extinct since the early 1900s, had black tail feathers with white tips, which high-ranking people wore in their hair.
The group of twelve feathers from a huia’s tail, usually still joined at the base, was called a mareko, and was worn by high chiefs going into battle.
Huia feathers were kept in a carved wooden chest called a waka huia [Source].
The regal-looking kōtuku (white heron) appears in a well-known whakataukī (saying), ‘He kōtuku rerenga tahi’ (a white heron of a single flight).
This can refer to a distinguished visitor who visits only rarely.
Long plumes from the kōtuku’s broad wings, called piki kōtuku, were prized as head ornaments by people of high rank.
Tākapu (gannet) were valued for their white down and plumes. The plumes were used as hair adornments, and the soft belly feathers were made into pōhoi – feather balls worn in the ear by men and women of rank.
Tui was highly prized by the Maori for food, its feathers and its companionship.
In mythology, the bird had a semi-divine origin, one of three guardians appointed in times remote to preserve the welfare and fertility of the forest and its occupants.
Pre-colonisation, Maori chiefs wore the black and white tips of huia feathers and black and white feathered cloaks as a sign of rank.
8. Because who’d want to play sport in our flag colours?
To play in red, white and blue would spell instant anonymity.We’d be confused with any number of countries, from Britain to Paraguay and Cuba to North Korea.We don’t want anonymous sports teams – why put up with an anonymous flag?But change our flag to our sports colours, and it’ll soon become just as famous.
9. Because it’s unique among nations.
New Zealand is not just the only nation to use the colours black and white.We’re also the only nation to have any colour all to itself – let alone the premium colour.This allows us to stand out in the crowded community of nations. We’d be crazy if we don’t extend our sporting advantage to our flag.
The first time that the silver fern on black was worn in an overseas representative rugby match was by the New Zealand Native Football Rugby team to tour Britain in 1888-89.
The All Black "Originals" during their England tour of 1905. The legend is that a London newspaper reported that the New Zealanders played as if they were "all backs."
The "Black and Silver" Ford GT40 Mk2 driven by Bruce McLaren crossing the finish line in first place of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans Race.
(Top Left) The now extinct Huia, hunted for its feathers.
(Top Right) A Maori chief of high rank wearing Huia feathers in his hair to indicate his rank and wearing a black and white feather cloak, 1860s.
(2nd Row Left) A Tui (Parsons Bird).
(2nd Row Right) Thomas Kendall, one of the first missionaries in New Zealand, 1814. Here he is wearing traditional black with white cravat.
(3rd Row Left) Bishop Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand.
(3rd Row Right) Lietuenant Governor William Hobson RN, first Governor of New Zealand.
(3rd Row Left) Warrior in full dress, by Sydney Parkinson, 1784.
(3rd Row Right) James Busby, the first British Resident and drafter of the 1835 Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Crux Australis as it appears in New Zealand's sky.
1. Because it screams “Little Australia”.
Familiarity is not a good enough reason to keep a flag that makes us look like a junior version of our neighbour.Foreigners who recognize it (which is not many) get the message loud and clear that New Zealand is a four-star country, while Australia is a five-star country – with a big bonus star for good measure.
2. Because it came from Australia.
The Colonial Navy Defence Act 1865 required all ships owned by colonial governments to fly the defaced Royal Navy blue ensign with a Colonial badge.
New Zealand did not have a Colonial badge at that stage, or even its own Coat of Arms. And so , between 1867 and 1869 the letters "NZ" were simply added to the blue ensign.
In 1869, Albert Hastings Markham, the First Lieutenant of the Royal Navy vessel HMS Blanche, submitted a Southern Cross design for a national ensign to the Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Bowen.
Markham sent his design to Bowen while posted at Australia Station in Queensland. He had never visited New Zealand. [Source]
Bowen approved Markham’s flag without any consultation, not even with Parliament, as a maritime flag.
It was flown on the colony’s ships for 33 years before becoming the national flag in 1902.
Sir George Bowen was an imperial administrator who had little allegiance to New Zealand. He had been the first Governor of Queensland in 1859 before being transferred across the Tasman in 1867 and staying six years.
In 1873 he was promoted to Goveror of Victoria, whose flag also contained the Southern Cross on a blue ensign. His final two governorship postings were to Mauritius and Hong Kong.
Victoria’s flag also contained the Southern Cross on a blue ensign.
Bowen included Markham’s four-star Southern Cross when he introduced the New Zealand Cross in 1869. [Source]
3. Because it’s Australia’s cross.
The Latin name for the Southern Cross is Crux Australis (‘Cross of the Southern Land’ – otherwise known as Australia).Although its five-star form appears on Southern Hemisphere flags from Papua New Guinea to Brazil, it’s the great southern continent that has most enthusiastically embraced the Southern Cross as its national symbol.While Captain Cook journeyed to the Pacific to view the Transit of Venus, the Southern Cross had little relevance to his course or to New Zealand's path.It was chosen by men with connections to Australia who saw New Zealand as Little Australia.
4. Because it’s really a religious cross.
Why does our Southern Cross have only four stars?Because it was initially a rotation of four stars to deliberately fit the four points of the Roman Cross – the symbol of Christianity. Why did Albert Hastings Markham reconfigure the five-star Southern Cross into a four-star Christian cross?A clue might be that Markham was a Freemason. So too was the premier who championed its promotion to official national flag 33 years later, Richard Seddon.(Though by 1902, the horizontal axis of the Christian cross had been tilted to more accurately resemble the Southern Cross constellation – minus the fifth star.)
Many Freemasons were also strong Christians, and Seddon famously regarded New Zealand as “God’s Own Country.”
Bowen’s decision to adopt Markham’s Romanized constellation for his New Zealand flag was the result of the romanticised beliefs of two outsiders with more attachment to the Land Down Under than the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Why not the Southern Cross?
“Southern Crosses”
The Australian Colonial flag, 1823.
The Eureka Flag, 1854.
The Confederation Flag, 1861.
Flag of Victoria, 1870.
New Zealand Code Signals Flag, 1899.
The United Tribes of New Zealand flag, 1835.
Flag of Australia, 1901.
Flag of New Zealand, 1902.
Why not the Union Jack?
1. Because we no longer feel British.
It’s now 175 years after the founding of New Zealand, and 68 years after we were granted full independence.Our broadcasters are no longer ordered to sound like BBC announcers. And we no longer call Britain ‘home’.The decision we make now may have to last until a hundred years from now, when future generations of New Zealanders will feel even less British than we do.Let’s be clear. We believe Britain has been a wonderful parent to New Zealand. We’re very grateful for our inheritance of British law and other fine British institutions.We deplore the shamefully fashionable denial of Britain’s remarkable contribution to the world by those who seek to bring down the West. We are anything but anti-British.But like any child who’s all grown up, we also believe it’s time to declare our independence.
2. Because it’s too monocultural.
The Union Jack rankles with many Maori, and plenty of Irish New Zealanders as well. It has no meaning to our increasingly multicultural population.It’s time to replace the Union Jack with a non-racial symbol and colour scheme that represents who we are, not who our parents were.Our flag should be neither British nor Maori. The point of a national flag is to show the nation – the sum of its parts – not the parts.
3. Because Mother abandoned us.
In 1973, less than thirty years after our soldiers had fought and died for Britain for the second time in a generation, Britain turned her back on New Zealand and joined the European Common Market.Britain would no longer buy everything we produced. New Zealand was now on its own. And “Brand New Zealand” became the focus of differentiating our goods and services by selling our clean and green image.Being forced to fend for ourselves has undoubtedly been good for us. But many New Zealanders now forced to line up with the foreigners at Heathrow see the removal of our preferential access to the Mother Country as a betrayal.They believe it disqualifies her from a place on our flag. We just believe it’s the perfect opportunity for a brand new Brand New Zealand flag.
4. Because it’s not always cool to look British.
In the wake of Britain’s humiliation in the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt took exception to the Union Jack on the flags of UN peacekeepers from the Dominions.
In order to look less British, Canada adopted a maple leaf, a symbol from the 1700s, which had appeared on their coat of arms in 1921.
New Zealand opted for the silver fern and later a kiwi emblem on a black background.
The President of the UN General Assembly, who won the 1957 Nobel Prize for suggesting the peacekeeping force, was Canadian Lester Pearson.
As prime minister of Canada in 1964, he persuaded Canadians of the need to differentiate themselves from Britain, and led the debate which resulted in the adoption of the famous maple leaf flag in 1965.
Because we’ve got a better option.
We can do more and say more with our flag than who our parents are. This referendum gives us an opportunity to tell a more inspiring story of nationhood.
The Black & Silver flag will do that.
