This Week In Vexillology #25

Grab your elven cloaks, fake Hobbit feet and put 'Greatest Hits of OMC' on your iPod, kids because this week, we're going further down under with New Zealand!

Adopted on June 12th, 1902 for national usage, the flag of New Zealand is pretty similar to the flag of Australia except it doesn't have the six pointed Commonwealth Star that Australia's flag does and this version of the Southern Cross is represented by four white bordered red stars.   The Union Jack in the canton, as with Australia's flag recalls New Zealand's historical links with Great Britain.  This flag, interestingly enough is not the first flag of New Zealand (we'll get to that one in a second) and it was, in fact, designed in 1869 for restricted use and only became the official national flag in 1902.

The first flag of New Zealand looked like this:

This flag belonged to the United Tribes of New Zealand and was adopted in 1834 thanks to the efforts of James Busby who had been sent to New Zealand in 1833 to establish some kind of framework for trade between Maoris and Europeans.  After rumors spread that the French were considering setting up an independent state at Hokianga it spurred British efforts to lock down a treaty and establish a confederation of some kind.   According to Wikipedia (The Font of All Knowledge) Busby's efforts were so successful at pacifying and calming down the Islands that they began to consider outright annexation which lead to the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.   

It appears that the question of the Treaty is where things get a little dicey.  From the point of view of the British and Colonial governments, the sovereignty of the United Tribes was absorbed into the new Colonial government of New Zealand- though Maoris and non-Maoris in New Zealand have very different points of view on what exactly it says and requires on the part of the government of New Zealand even today.  Which leads us to this flag:

This is the Tino rangatiratanga flag which translated from Maori means the 'absolute sovereignty' flag.   Rosetta Stone not being available in Maori (at least not that I know of) and definitely not being available in 1840 at Waitangi this flag has come to represent all Maori.  The semantic controversy:

In the English text of Article One of the Treaty, the Māori signatories cede their sovereignty to the British Crown. For the Māori text, since there was no direct Māori translation for the idea, the missionary neologism 'kawanatanga' (= 'governorship') was used to represent the concept of sovereignty. This word was based on the transliteration "Kawana" (= 'governor'), which had been invented by Bible translators to explain Pontius Pilate's authority in Judaea. Kawana was also used prior to 1840 to describe the Governor of New South Wales. 

In the English text of Article Two of the Treaty, signatories are assured that the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties would remain for so long as they chose. In the Māori text, signatories are assured that their tino rangatiratanga will remain undisturbed over their lands, kainga and other taonga (te tino rangatiratanga o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa, literally the absolute chieftainship of your lands, your homes, and all your treasures/taonga).

You see the problem?  Article One says the Maori signatories cede their sovereignty to the British Crown while Article Two says that their tino rangatiratanga or absolute sovereignty shall remain undisturbed.    (And to think Americans complain about how hard our Constitution is to interpret.)   This flag was designed in 1990 and in 2009 won official recognition from the New Zealand government as a flag for the Maori people which permitted it to be flown on Auckland Harbour Bridge and at some official buildings on Waitangi Day.

So kids, as you can see there's more to New Zealand than meets the eye*- a lot of it really quite fascinating and worth reading more about I think.  This is a country that's more than just Middle Earth, Kimbra and Flight of The Conchords so put your hands together and give it up for New Zealand!

And until next time, remember to keep your flags flying.  FREAK or otherwise!

*Please keep in mind, I'm getting a lot of this info via Wikipedia and Google.  The controversy surrounding the Treaty of Waitangi is very real, very difficult and very much debated even today- so if I get something wrong, please let me know.