No Confidence Party

A national identity, the choosing of a sovereign representative first national flag

 

 

This is the original National Flag of New Zealand. It is a sovereign[1] flag because it was chosen by a group of sovereign people, this group of people were known as the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the flag they selected which represents all New Zealanders equally and protects all New Zealanders equally was then accepted by the sovereign King of England who agreed to become New Zealand's protector in order to insure New Zealand's security as an emerging independent infant state in exchange for friendship to British subjects who settled in New Zealand or those British subjects who wished to come to New Zealand for the purposes of trade. This is clearly stated in the 1835 Declaration of Independence of New Zealand which is the founding constitutional document that gave rise to New Zealand as a nation which this flag represents.
This sovereign national flag is significant in that by formally recognizing this flag and also by endorsing the contractual partnership agreement which the New Zealand Declaration of Independence constitutes and explicitly defines, Britain acknowledged and accepted New Zealand as an independent sovereign nation state under international law. In doing so Britain acknowledged equally the mana of the Maori chiefs and all other inhabitants of New Zealand.
This is indicated by the equal respect that has been shown for all people of New Zealand illustrated in the symbols that have been used and expressed in the design of the original National Flag. The presence of the four eight pointed stars in the upper left quadrant set into the four dark blue rectangles together represent the Southern Cross, a star constellation visible in the southern hemisphere night sky which refers to the geographic location of New Zealand in relation to the rest of the world. Seven of the eight points on all of the four stars represent the seven waka's (Maori canoes) or Maori people who migrated to these shores down through the Pacific as is consistent with generally held scientific views and most traditional Maori oral history.
The eighth point on all four stars represents the eighth waka which is symbolic of the arrival of all other people to New Zealand which encompasses all settlers and other inhabitants. The three empty white squares that make up the other quadrants of the flag represent purity and the red St Georges Cross that divides the four quadrants represents the royal sovereign bloodlines. The black fimbriation or tincture trim around the smaller red St Georges Cross in the upper left hand quadrant of the flag around which the stars are positioned represents King William IV's sovereign seal. This royal sovereign seal extends common law protections to all New Zealanders equally and is backed by the Magna Carta Treaty of England from 1215. James Busby called the 1835 Declaration of Independence New Zealand's Magna Carta due to the protection of rights and liberties that it extends and protects for all New Zealanders.
In 1831 a petition signed by 13 northern Maori chiefs was sent to King William IV, asking for protection and recognition of their special trade and missionary contacts with Britain. The concerns outlined in the petition included fear of takeover by nations other than Britain, and the need for protection from the lawlessness of British subjects in New Zealand. Britain responded with the appointment of James Busby previously a civil servant in New South Wales as the official British Resident for New Zealand in 1833. His main duties, as outlined in his instructions from Governor Richard Bourke of New South Wales, were:
to protect 'well disposed settlers and traders',
to prevent 'outrages' by Europeans against Maori and
to apprehend escaped convicts.
This flag was formally accepted and became New Zealand's first national flag in 1834 the year before the New Zealand Declaration of Independence was signed by the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes of the northern parts of New Zealand known in their collective capacity as the Confederation of the United Tribes. This event took place on the 28th October 1835 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The Declaration of Independence or Wakaputanga as it is written in the original document which was written in Maori by James Busby was signed by thirty four hereditary chiefs assembled on the day and counter signed on behalf of King Henry William IV (Reigning King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Defender of the Faith, King of Hannover, Duke of Brunswick from 1830-1837) by James Busby who was appointed His Majesties official Britannic Resident for New Zealand from 1833-1840 (a position of office equivalent to a consular[2]). A copy was sent to His Majesty the King of England by Busby on behalf of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and it was formally acknowledged by King William in 1836. The New Zealand Declaration of Independence was also published in both 1836 and 1837 and a maritime version of the flag with a white fimbriation for use on the sea was gazetted in New South Wales in 1835. By 1839 fifty two hereditary chiefs in total had signed the Declaration and this was acknowledged by the British government.
As the New Zealand 1835 Declaration of Independence is the constitutional agreement that gave rise to New Zealand being recognized as a sovereign independent nation state and because it was signed, accepted, witnessed and therefore a binding contract of partnership that allowed for this national status to be recognized in international law this national flag at that time because it was a sovereign flag came to represent this founding constitutional document.
The idea of a flag to represent New Zealand was first broached in 1830, when the Hokianga-built trading ship Sir George Murray was seized in Sydney by Customs officials for sailing without a flag or register. Australia, New Zealand's major trading market, was subject to British navigation laws which ruled that every ship must carry an official certificate detailing construction, ownership and nationality of the ship. At that time, New Zealand was not yet a British colony and New Zealand-built ships could not sail under a British flag or register. Without a flag to represent the new nation, trading ships and their valuable cargoes would continue to be seized.
The seizure of the Sir George Murray and her detainment in Neutral Bay occurred whilst two principal Maori chiefs and part owners of the ship Patuone and Taonui, were on board, and reports at the time indicate that the Maori population were 'exceedingly indignant' upon hearing the news of the ship's fate. In New South Wales also, there was sympathy for New Zealand's plight and the weekly Australian called for amending legislation to remove any obstacle to New Zealand's increasing trade with Port Jackson. The ship was sold by auction to Captain Thomas MacDonnell who was later appointed additional British Resident of New Zealand along with Busby from 1835-1836, a temporary licence was granted in August 1831 allowing the Sir George Murray to return to Sydney for trading, however the need for an official flag to mark New Zealand-built ships was clear.
Upon arriving in the Bay of Islands in 1833 to take up the position of British Resident, James Busby almost immediately wrote to the Colonial Secretary in New South Wales suggesting that a New Zealand flag be adopted. Aside from solving the problems with trans-Tasman trade, Busby also saw the flag as a way of encouraging Maori chiefs to work together, paving the way for some form of collective government. The Australian authorities agreed wholeheartedly with his proposal for a flag, and some months later forwarded a possible design, consisting of a white background with four blue horizontal bands across it and the Union Jack in the top left-hand corner. This design was, however, deemed unsuitable by Busby as it contained no red, 'a colour to which the New Zealanders are particularly partial, and which they are accustomed to consider as indicative of rank'. The senior missionary of the Church Missionary Society, Rev. Henry Williams, was enlisted to design an alternative flag, drawing on his experience as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. The three flag designs he produced were then sent to Sir Richard Bourke who was Governor of the British Colony of New South Wales from 1831-1837, who had the designs sewn up and forwarded to Busby by way of HMS Alligator.
On 20 March 1834, 25 chiefs from the Far North and their followers gathered at Waitangi to choose a flag to represent New Zealand. A number of missionaries, settlers and the commanders of 10 British and 3 American ships were also in attendance at the occasion. Following Busby's address, each chief was called forward in turn to select a flag, while the son of one of the chiefs recorded the votes. The preferred design, a flag already used by the Church Missionary Society, received 12 out of the 25 votes, with the other two designs receiving 10 and 3 votes respectively. Busby declared the chosen flag the national flag of New Zealand and had it hoisted on a central flagpole, accompanied by a 21 gun salute from HMS Alligator.
The new flag was then sent back to New South Wales for passage to King William IV and Governor Bourke also enclosed a drawing of the flag's design. The King approved the flag, and a drawing of it was circulated through the Admiralty with instructions to recognise it as New Zealand's flag.
James Busby, along with others had serious concerns about life in New Zealand. By the early 1830s Kororareka in the Bay of Islands was the main European point of contact with New Zealand. Described by some as the 'hell-hole of the Pacific', it was notorious as a 'flesh town' where whalers, sealers, sailors, gum diggers and traders met local women. Three-week marriages were sometimes negotiated and women bore the tattoos of their itinerant lovers. One American observer described Kororareka as a 'Gomorrah, the scourge of the Pacific, which should be struck down by the ravages of disease for its depravity'. Reports received by the British colonial office in 1838 indicated that "a body of not less than two thousand British subjects, had become permanent inhabitants of New Zealand" and "that amongst them were many persons of bad and doubtful character - convicts who had fled from penal settlements, or seamen who had deserted their ships", it was felt by the British authorities "that these people, unrestrained by any law and amenable to no Tribunals, were alternately the authors and victims of every species of crime and outrage".
Humanitarian groups such as the Church Missionary Society (CMS) were concerned about this situation. Formal British intervention was considered essential to protect Maori. The Colonial Office in the early 1830's argued however, that as there was no single authority that spoke on behalf of Maori at that time, negotiations between Britain and a sovereign New Zealand nation were impossible.
Busby's moves to select a flag for New Zealand in March 1834 can be seen in this context. While ships flying this flag could now be recognised according to maritime law, the flag also represented a symbol of sovereignty and a necessary first step in creating an independent New Zealand state that Britain could negotiate with.