Historical flags of New Zealand

Last modified: 2000-01-14 by antonio martins
Keywords: maori | crosses: 2 | cross (red) | stars: 4 | waitangi | new south wales | proposal | missionary | variant | museum | union jack | stars: 4 | star: 5 points (white) | star: 6 points (white) | star: 8 points (white) |
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• Need for a flag
• Rejected proposal (1834)
• Waitangi contest: originally chosen version (1834)
• Waitangi contest: missionary influence?
• Flag of the United Tribes: gazetted version (1835-1840)
• Flag of the United Tribes: surviving example?
• Union Jack (1840-1902)
• The previous blue ensign (1867-1869)
• The current blue ensign (>1869) and current national flag (>1902)

• New Zealand
• Maori flags
• New Zealand's vice regal representatives

James Busby, appointed in England to be British Resident in New Zealand, sailed from Sydney to the Bay of Islands, arriving on H.M.S. Imogene on the 9th May 1833. For several days he was extensively briefed by the missionary Rev. Henry Williams. It must have been on the basis of these conversations that Busby wrote to Sydney on May 13 that «From all I have been able to learn it appears that there are in the Northern part of this Island from twenty five to thirty Tribes of Natives who are in every respect independent of each other and who exercise separately ... all the functions of sovereignty.» Williams is also the likely source of Busby's knowledge of Maori indignation over the seizure of the ship Sir George Murray in Sydney Harbour for sailing without a national flag. That, together with the representations made to him in Sydney by Grose, owner and builder of the ships Sir George Murray and The New Zealander, appear to have stimulated Busby to consider the long-term desirability of persuading the Chiefs to act collectively, and the shorter term goal of having them select a national flag, which would solve for Pakeha (white New Zealanders) what was in essence a Pakeha problem.
Stuart Park, 8 Nov 1996

Busby put the suggestion to Governor Bourke in Sydney, to whom he reported. New Zealand was not a British possession, but the Governor of New South Wales had jurisdiction over British activities in New Zealand. Bourke sent a suggested design for a flag, which arrived in the Bay of Islands in January 1834. The flag brought by Sadler was «four blue horizontal bars on a white field, with a Union Jack in the upper hoist». Because this design had no red in it, Henry Williams and Busby felt that the Maori would reject it, and even be insulted by the suggestion, since red was such an important colour for them.
Stuart Park, 8 Nov 1996

Busby wrote back to Bourke suggesting three alternative designs which had all been drawn by Williams, all of which incorporated red. Bourke had all three made up in Sydney and sent them back on H.M.S. Alligator, which arrived in the Bay of Islands on 9 March 1834. Busby sent the following account of the selection of the flag to Governor Bourke in New South Wales on March 26th 1834:

I accordingly lost no time in requesting the chiefs to assemble on Thursday the 20th current, and I also sent invitations to the respectable Settlers, and to the Commander of ten British and three American Ships then in the Harbour to witness the ceremony. These with the Officers of His Majesty's Ship Alligator and a portion of the Missionaries formed a party of from fifty to sixty persons of respectability who were present on the occasion.

The Chiefs assembled to the number of 25 with a considerable body of followers. They were received under a large awning which had been erected by Capt. Lambert's direction near my house, and which was decorated with Flags. Capt. Lambert having agreed with me in opinion that on such an occasion the British Ensign ought to be hoisted in front of my house, he was good enough to send me one from the ship for the occasion. A Flagstaff was also erected in front of the awning where the chiefs were to assemble. These preparations having been completed the three Flags were exhibited on short poles in front of the Awning and I proceeded to deliver an Address of which a translation is herewith enclosed. [not in this post]

After the conclusion of this address I called over the names of the Chiefs and requested them as they answered to their names to proceed within the Bar which had been placed across the awning. They were then asked in regular succession upon which of the three Flags their choice fell, and their votes were taken down by a son of one of their number who has been educated by the Missionaries, and who with several others appeared on this occasion respectably dressed in European clothing. I was glad to observe that they gave their votes freely, and appeared to have a good understanding of the nature of the proceeding. The votes given for the respective Flags were 3, 10 & 12, and the greatest number having proved in favour of the Flag previously adopted by the Missionaries it was declared to be the National Flag of New Zealand, and having been immediately hoisted on the Flag staff was saluted with 21 guns by the Ship of war.

This flag was the one chosen in March 1834 by the twenty-five Maori chiefs from three suggested by the Governor of New South Wales. It was originally the Cross of St. George with a canton of dark blue, which itself contained a red cross fimbriated black, each quadrant of this smaller cross featuring a white eight-pointed star.
Stuart Park, 29 Jan 1996

From flag chart Flags of Australia [foa]:

«In March 1834 twenty-five Maori chiefs gathered together at Waitangi, New Zealand to choose one of three flags supplied by the Governor of New South Wales, who at the time, had jurisdication over New Zealand...»

According to [cra90], the flag selected was "borrowed" from that of the Church Missionary Society.
Roy Stilling, 8 Nov 1996

The missionary Henry Williams (a former Royal Navy lieutenant) who designed the three flags from which the one was chosen had earlier designed (and used) it on the Church Missionary Society vessels he sailed, so it wasn't borrowed so much as promoted by him. It's an interesting question to what extent the Anglican affiliation of the chosen flag swayed the for and against voters in their choice — were the chiefs who made the choice 12 Anglicans, 10 Catholics and 3 non-conformists?
Stuart Park, 9 Nov 1996

The new flag was gazetted the next year by the British Admiralty, with the eight-pointed stars replaced with five-pointed ones, and the black fimbriation returned to the more heraldically correct white.
Stuart Park, 29 Jan 1996

Following its adoption, the flag was gazetted in Sydney. Busby's original 1834 drawing had eight pointed stars and black fimbriation of the blue quarters in the upper hoist. However, the New South Wales Gazette description and the subsequent British Admiralty publication of the flag in 1835 omitted the fimbriation and showed 6 pointed stars. That version has been the most common variant seen since, though several varieties are known.
Stuart Park, 8 Nov 1996

This flag, without the fimbriation, was then adopted around 1859 by the Shaw Savill and Albion shipping company as their house flag [car61]. Also known as the Waitangi Flag, it has appeared in various contexts since.
Stuart Park, 29 Jan 1996

There have been several other variants used by various groups over the last 150 years.
Stuart Park, 9 Nov 1996

It persisted in use, mostly in Maori contexts, though also in some official ones (e.g. contingents to the Boer War ca. 1900), and today is one of the many flags used by Maori sovereignty demonstrators.
Stuart Park, 29 Mar 1997

In the San Francisco City Museum, there was memorabilia commemorating the Great White Fleet's 1908 round-the-world trip. Included was a display of flags of countries visited. Most looked familiar, but the one given for New Zealand looked strange.
Josh Fruhlinger

That is the so-called Flag of the Confederation of United Tribes. Was the one on display an original (1908) flag — its use as a gift to the Great White Fleet would be fascinating — or was it a modern flag, the Museum having just got the wrong flag for New Zealand?
Stuart Park, 29 Mar 1997

The Flag of the United Tribes was made redundant by the enactment of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which made the Union Jack the (second) national flag.
Stuart Park, 29 Mar 1997

This flag was officially in use from 10.01.1867 to 23.10.1869.
David Prothero, 03 Jul 1997

In 1867, the British Secretary of State for Colonies instructed all colonies that colonial ships in Government service should fly the Blue Ensign with the badge of the colony in the fly. The NZ Governor (not Governor General) Sir George Grey's regulation provided for the letters NZ in red to be that badge. However, this was not a popular choice.
Stuart Park, 08 Jul 1997

If I have correct information the blue ensign was used prior 1867 with a white circle within four red stars (near 1840-1867). Then was adopted the NZ letters (blue ensign with "NZ" red fimbriated white, 1867-1869) and the current design or very similar one (1869-1900). The suposed old design (white circle with red stars) was restored (1900.02.03) but 1903 readopted the 1869 pattern.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Jun 1997

In the second half of the 19th century there appear to have been various flags with "NZ" or "4 stars" in red or in white, in discs or applied direct to the field of the fly but not much solid information.
David Prothero, 03 Jul 1997

In 1869 Grey's successor Bowen withdrew that flag, and instructed that all New Zealand Colonial Government ships should fly the blue ensign with the Southern Cross in the fly, the Cross being represented by four five pointed red stars with white borders. This of course did not apply to naval ships, since there was no New Zealand Navy, but Government vessels like lighthouse tenders, pilot launches, immigration and quarantine vessels all flew this flag after 1869. Informally, it came to be recognised as New Zealand's flag, though its use on land was not permitted officially. In the 1880s onwards, New Zealanders began seeking a more distinctive flag than the Union Jack. New Zealand troops that went to the South African War used the maritime flag unofficially, and in the jingoistic fervour of that time pressure mounted for a distinctive New Zealand flag. In 1900, Premier Seddon said «As the flag with the Southern Cross upon it has generally been recognised as the New Zealand flag, I think we should formally adopt it by statute». This duly happened in 1901, and since then this flag has been the flag of New Zealand, for general use on land in New Zealand and at sea on vessels belonging to the government of New Zealand.
Stuart Park, 08 Jul 1997

The red stars outlined in white, applied directly to the fly, became a government flag 23.10.1869, and on 12.06.1902 it was promulgated as being the national flag «for general use ashore and government vessels» (afloat).
David Prothero, 03 Jul 1997