flags

Events In History

Articles

Empire Day

  • Empire Day

    Empire Day (24 May), celebrated widely in New Zealand from 1903, was a major event in the viceregal calendar.

    Read the full article

  • Page 1 - Empire DayEmpire Day (24 May), celebrated widely in New Zealand from 1903, was a major event in the viceregal

He Whakaputanga - Declaration of Independence

  • He Whakaputanga - Declaration of Independence

     On 28 October 1835,  34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand). 

    Read the full article

  • Page 1 - Declaration of Independence On 28 October 1835,  34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New

Flags of New Zealand

Schools and the First World War

  • Schools and the First World War

    Schools and children were quickly called into action at the outset of the First World War in 1914. Developing patriotic, fit and healthy citizens was seen as important to the survival of the country and the Empire. Hundreds of teachers joined the NZEF, including many from sole-teacher schools. Almost 200 never returned.

    Read the full article

  • Page 3 - Displaying patriotismIn late 1917 district education boards ordered that children salute the New Zealand flag at the start of each school day. Some teachers opposed this as too

Taming the frontier

  • Taming the frontier

    In 1832 James Busby was appointed as the official British Resident to New Zealand. After arriving in the Bay of Islands in May 1833 he took steps to tame what he saw as a chaotic frontier society.

    Read the full article

  • Page 3 - Choosing a flagThe selection of the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand as New Zealand's first flag

Armistice Day

  • Armistice Day

    After four terrible years, fighting in the First World War finally ended with the signing of an armistice between Germany and the Allies on 11 November 1918. New Zealanders celebrated enthusiastically, despite having recently celebrated the surrenders of the three other Central Powers and the premature news of an armistice with Germany.

    Read the full article

  • Page 3 - False armisticeOn 7 November 1918 the Prime Minister assured the public - following rumours to the contrary - that the government was not holding back news of a German surrender. The next

New Zealand's 19th-century wars

  • New Zealand's 19th-century wars

    War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Many thousands of Māori died in the intertribal Musket Wars between the 1810s and the 1830s. There were more deaths during the New Zealand Wars of the 1840s to 1870s between some Māori and the Crown, which for many tribes had dire consequences.

    Read the full article

  • Page 6 - NZ Wars flagsMany Maori in the 19th century saw the Union Jack as a potent symbol of Great Britain's power in New Zealand. In the New Zealand Wars, Maori who resisted government forces often

Biographies

  • Busby, James

    Edinburgh-born James Busby was British Resident, a consular representative, in New Zealand from 1833. Based at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, he was given little material support to achieve British policy aims, but in early 1840 he helped William Hobson draft the Treaty of Waitangi.

    Read more...
  • In February 2015 the government announced the appointment of the Flag Consideration Panel, which would ‘design and lead the public engagement process’ around the flag

Images and media for flags