Flag shows Maori they have voice: Designer

The Mount Maunganui artist who designed the tino rangatiratanga flag says the decision to fly it on Waitangi Day is a step forward for Maori.

Linda Munn designed the flag 20 years ago with Jan Smith and Hiraina Marsden.
Cabinet yesterday approved it as the preferred Maori flag on Waitangi Day.
The flag would fly from Auckland Harbour Bridge, Premier House, Parliament and other significant sites controlled by the Government, Prime Minister John Key and Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples said yesterday.
Eighty  per cent of more than 1200 submissions received at a series of hui on the preferred Maori flag opted for the "tino rangatiratanga" one.
Ms Munn, a Child, Youth and Family caregiver, heard the news through the media and was "overwhelmed" but pleased at the decision.
"The phone's been going non-stop.
"It puts [the flag] up where it should be.
"This country has been talking about being in partnership with Maori since the Treaty was signed.
"It will make Maori see they do have a voice."
Ms Munn would like to see the flag fly permanently next to the New Zealand flag.
"There's a lot more positive about that symbol than there is negative now. It's come of age.

"It is a political statement but, to me, it has more meaning and depth.
"You don't just look at it in face value - there's a whole culture behind that symbol that is as old as time."
The artist plans to travel to Auckland for Waitangi Day, where she has been asked to speak at a Waitangi festival and was looking forward to seeing the flag on the Harbour Bridge.

Ms Munn believed she held the copyright for the symbol, but had not seen any income from it.
"It's being ripped off everywhere, which is something we are looking at right now. We are looking at taking it back.

"What really hurts is people who take it and use it for their own monetary gain."
Prime Minister John Key has described the decision to fly the flag as a step towards better race relations.
"We have got to a point in time where we can take race relations forward in New Zealand," Mr Key said.
"It is about one step at a time, it is about building a harmonious New Zealand in which we respect each other."
Dr Sharples said if there was any backlash from people who resented the flag as a symbol of Maori separatism it would be "minor in the scheme of things. We are looking forward to it being a positive sign." 
Dr Sharples acknowledged that a times the flag had represented conflict, but it had also been raised in celebration.
Mr Key agreed, saying that it had been flown at big sports events including the Wellington sevens competition.
The decision doesn't mean any change to the status of the New Zealand flag, and the tino rangatiratanga flag won't be an official flag.
The black in Ms Munn's  flag represents the long darkness from which the Earth emerged, as well as signifying Rangi - the heavens, a male, formless, floating and passive force.
The red symbolises Papatuanuku, the Earth mother, and the white represents Te Ao Marama, the realm of being and light.
The white koro is  the unfolding of new life, hope for the future and the process of renewal.