Cabinet endorses Tino Rangatiratanga flag

On 14 December 2009, the Cabinet of New Zealand recognised the Tino Rangatiratanga flag as the preferred Māori flag and authorised it to be flown from the Auckland Harbour Bridge and government buildings on Waitangi Day. The Cabinet's approval followed long-standing efforts by Te Ata Tino Toa and other activists to fly a Māori flag on the bridge. It first flew from the Auckland Harbour Bridge on 6 February 2010.

Background

The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, recognised the sovereignty of the Māori people and put their lands under British protection, eventually leading to the creation of New Zealand as a nation. In 1989 New Zealand's preparations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi the following year inspired Māori to illuminate their struggles for self-determination. A coalition of Māori organisations, Te Kotahitanga, decided to create a Māori flag to coincide with the commemoration and to draw attention to Māori self-determination. Te Kotahitanga held a design competition, led by Te Kawariki, but no suitable design was submitted. Te Kawariki then consulted Māori artists Jan Dobson Smith, Linda Munn and Hiraina Marsden, who created a winning design in October 1989. Dobson Smith and Munn sewed the flag, and a group of Māori carried it in a hikoi, or demonstration march, from Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Rēinga) to Waitangi in early 1990. They formally launched it on 6 February 1990 at Waitangi.

The red, white and black flag with a koru design was called the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, and it became a symbol of both the unrealised promises of the treaty and of Māori sovereignty. The flag soon was adopted as the unofficial Māori flag by many Māori, but not all. Some Māori disliked the design or felt it did not represent their iwi. In the early 1990s, Te Kawariki and other activists used the Tino Rangatiratanga flag to protest Waitangi Day celebrations. Its use was expanded to other protest activities, such as land occupations, and to celebrate significant Māori events, such as swearing-in ceremonies of Māori Party members to Parliament.

In January 2007, the Māori advocacy group Te Ata Tino Toa asked Transit NZ (later renamed NZ Transport Agency) for permission to fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag from the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day. Transit NZ denied their request, saying only New Zealand's national flag and those of recognised countries on their national or independence days could be flown from the bridge. Activists and Māori Party leaders argued that as other organisations (including the NZ national yachting team) had been allowed to fly their flags from the bridge, the Māori nation should be allowed the same opportunity on its national day. They pointed to Australia's recognition of the Aboriginal flag and permission for it to be flown from government buildings.

Opposition intensified after Transit NZ allowed the European Union flag to fly from the bridge on 9 May 2007 in honour of Europe Day. Transit NZ spokesperson Peter Spies clarified its policy, stating only flags recognised by the New Zealand government could be flown from the bridge. That June Transit NZ restricted permission to fly to the New Zealand national flag alone.

Te Ata Tino Toa continued to marshal support for flying the Tino Rangatiratanga flag. In January 2008, it asked the public to display the flag in their communities and city councils to fly the flag. On 6 February 2008, cars displaying the flag paraded across the Auckland Harbour Bridge in protest.

Gaining Approval

In 2008, Prime Minister John Key invited Māori Party MPs into his coalition government. In January 2009, Pita Sharples, Māori Party MP and Māori Affairs minister, announced his intent to ask the ministers to approve flying the Tino Rangatiratanga flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and other government buildings. He believed that doing so would symbolise the direction of the new government and its inclusion of Māori in governance. Key raised no objection to flying a Māori flag from the bridge, Parliament and Premier House, but wanted Māori to agree on which flag to fly.

That winter, in July and August, the iwi were consulted in order to select one of four flags: the Tino Rangatiratanga, the United Tribes of New Zealand, the New Zealand Red Ensign or the New Zealand. Some Māori iwi opposed the Tino Rangatiratanga flag because of its association with protest. Opponents, including some pakeha politicians, felt it would symbolise separation, not unity. Nevertheless, the flag gained the greatest support, receiving 80 per cent of 1,200 submissions. In November 2009, Sharples recommended the Tino Rangatiratanga flag and asked the Cabinet to approve it.

The Cabinet's approval on 14 December 2009 acknowledged the Tino Rangatiratanga flag as the unofficial Māori flag and stated that it could be flown from the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Parliament and other government buildings on Waitangi Day. It provided for the Tino Rangatiratanga flag to fly under or alongside the New Zealand flag. Key announced he would inform the NZ Transport Agency the flag was to be allowed to fly on the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day, and it first flew from the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Parliament on Waitangi Day 2010.

Impact

The Tino Rangatiratanga flag has become a powerful symbol of Māori self-determination and gained visibility in New Zealand. Within five years of the cabinet approval, the flag was flown by some schools, local governments such as the Wellington and Dunedin City Councils, and organisations such as the Museum of Wellington, Archives New Zealand and the University of Auckland marae. Te Ata Tino Toa, which campaigned for the flag's inclusion on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, launched several campaigns to expand where it flies. In 2013, it asked for the flag to be flown in all public schools. The next year, it unsuccessfully urged the Christchurch City Council to fly the flag.

Despite such efforts, not all people or communities accept the Tino Rangatiratanga flag as the Māori flag. Some iwi like the Ngāi Tahu and Te Arawa do not believe it represents them. Others view it as divisive and consider the New Zealand flag representative of the nation and all its people.

Bibliography

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