What the hikoi flags mean

TINO RANGATIRATANGA

This flag (left in picture) is perhaps one of the most popular to represent Maori sovereignty. Black represents Te Korekore - the realm of potential being and the long darkness from whence the world emerged. It represents the heavens. The male element is formless, floating and passive. White represents Te Ao Marama, the realm of being and light. It is the physical world which symbolises purity, harmony and enlightenment. 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 the female element. It also represents gestation. Red is Papatuanuku, the earth mother, the sustainer of all living things. Red is the colour of earth from which the first human was made. As a whole, the design represents the balance of the forces of nature, masculine and feminine, active and passive, potential and physical, air and earth. It can also be interpreted as symbolising the white cloud rolling across the face of the land, as in the Maori name for New Zealand, Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud).

KOTAHITANGA

A horizontal tricolour (top right in photo), red over white over black, featuring a circular emblem on the central stripe. The emblem contains the word Kotahitanga curved around a central red circle containing two crossed white mere over a vertical taiaha. This flag represents the Kotahitanga movement which was set up in 1897 at Papawai. Tribal delegations from many parts of the country travelled to Papawai to discuss Government proposals with Richard Seddon and King Mahuta among those present. The importance of Papawai faded in 1904 but in 1961 it resurfaced again in an attempt to teach young Maori men from the East Coast who moved to Christchurch to maintain their cultural roots and self worth. In the past decade this flag has reappeared at Treaty of Waitangi commemorations.

TE HAKITUATAHI O AOTEAROA

This flag (centre in photo) contains the cross of St George on a white ground and a smaller St George's cross in red on a blue filed in the upper quarter next to the staff. This is referred to as the first flag of New Zealand and was used to provide essential protection for trading ships built in New Zealand. In October 1832 Paratene Te Manu and other chiefs met with King William IV in England and were given the right to fly a flag. The flag is also known as the flag for the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the Crown of England.