There are three flagpoles flying flags and a chief, one of the members of the United Tribes, is pointing his mere pounamu (greenstone weapon) towards the front flag, which was selected as the national flag. If judged by the Montevideo Convention criteria, New Zealand did not achieve full de jure statehood until 1947. The flag of the Confederation of United Tribes ascends the flagpole at Te Tii marae, Waitangi, before dawn on October 28, 2013—‘Independence Day’, to Ngapuhi, because it marks their ancestors’ assertion of rangatiratanga (sovereign authority) in 1835. As New Zealand was not a British colony, New Zealand-built ships could not sail under a British flag … United Tribes’ flag. An initiative of the independence committee, Emblems Week is aimed at reflecting on the meaning of the national emblems, and promoting their use among members of the general public and particularly among the country's schools. John Harrison, 11 September 1998. A New Zealand flag was first suggested in 1830 after Sydney customs officials seized a Hokianga-built ship. The United Tribes’ ensign as officially adopted, reproduced in a Book of flags, 1845. Tino Rangatiratanga flag image by Tomislav Todorovic, 12 February 2017 . By July 1839, 52 rangatira had signed. In 1835, 34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tīreni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand. The flag of Dominica, along with other national symbols, was the focus of a government-sponsored "Emblems Week" in 2016. New Zealand-owned ships were in danger of being seized as they did not fly a national flag. 20 March 1834: New Zealand chooses its first flag The flag of the United Tribes. The national flag of Fiji (Fijian: kuila mai Viti) was adopted on 10 October 1970.The state arms have been slightly modified but the flag has remained the same as during Fiji's colonial period. In 1830 the Sir George Murray, a ship part-owned by chiefs Patuone and Taonui, was seized in Sydney for not having a national flag. This postcard depicts the selection of a national flag by Māori chiefs at Waitangi in 1834. The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand (Māori: He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni), signed by a number of Māori chiefs in 1835, proclaimed the sovereign independence of New Zealand prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Australia was subject to British navigation laws, under which ships had to carry official certificates. Busby called together a number of northern chiefs to vote for a national flag. He Whakaputanga – Declaration of Independence by Basil Keane. In this sense, 1947 can be said to mark the date of New Zealand’s legal independence. The Tino Rangitiratanga flag is the one well recognised Maori flag in New Zealand. Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand We, the hereditary chiefs and heads of the tribes of the Northern parts of New Zealand, being assembled at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, on this 28th day of October, 1835, declare the Independence of our country, which is hereby constituted and declared to be an Independent State, under the designation of The United Tribes of New Zealand. The declaration had been drafted by a British official, prompted in part by rumours that a Frenchman was planning to declare himself the king of New Zealand. (This version differs from the original 1834 flag in that it has a white rather than black border around the smaller St George's cross.) This occurred 16 years after the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster Act in 1931 that recognised New Zealand’s autonomy. In 1835 northern chiefs signed a Declaration of Independence, asserting their sovereignty over New Zealand. 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