flags

Empire Day

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

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• 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

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   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). 

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• 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

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  The New Zealand flag hasn't always been our official flag. It was adopted in 1902, replacing the Union Jack. Between 1834 and 1840, the flag of the United Tribes was recognised as our first 'national' flag. Waitangi Day 2010 saw the first official recognition of the national Māori flag.

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• Page 2 – United Tribes flag

  On 20 March 1834, 25 chiefs from the Far North and their followers gathered at Waitangi to choose a flag to represent New Zealand.

• Page 3 – Union Jack

  The Union Jack served as New Zealand's flag from 1840 until 1902

• Page 4 – The NZ flag

  The maritime origins of the New Zealand flag from 1865 to 1902

• Page 5 – Other official flags

  Six flags other than the New Zealand flag are flown for official purposes in New Zealand.

• Page 6 – The national Māori flag

  A history of the national Māori (Tino Rangatiratanga) flag

• Page 7 – Flag debates

  The design and use of the national flag has always attracted debate

• Page 8 – Flag referenda

  In 2016 New Zealanders voted to keep the current national flag.

• Page 9 – Further information

  Find out more about New Zealand's flags

Schools and the First World War

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  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.

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• 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

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  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.

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

Armistice Day

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  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.

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• 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

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  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.

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• 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