A review of things you need to know before you go home on Monday; UFB kick along, 10yr passports return, key TPPA vote, Tauranga's huge university project, swap rates and NZD unchanged

... wouldn't a creamy white flag with a block of cheese in the middle be more symbolic of where we're at ?

And it'd make people hungry too , they'd be salivating at any event where the flag is flown ...

... great marketing strategy !

KOF

Nice poem thanks for sharing KH.

Some history on the NZ flag

1834 - 1840 The Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand

New Zealand's first flag was designed by a senior missionary of the Church Missionary Society, sewn up by an Australian and voted on by 25 Maori Chiefs from the Far North. It came to be known as the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand in recognition of the title used by the same chiefs when they met again at Waitangi to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1835. To Maori, the United Tribes flag was significant in that Britain had recognised New Zealand as an independent nation with its own flag, and in doing so, had acknowledged the mana of the Maori chiefs.
Full Story»

1840 - 1902 The Union Jack

Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840, the Union Jack replaced the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand as the official flag of New Zealand. The new Lieutenant -Governor, William Hobson, forcibly removed the United Tribes flag from the Bay of Islands, however, some Maori, including Hone Heke, believed that Maori should have the right to fly the United Tribes flag alongside the Union Jack, in recognition of their equal status with the government. Heke's repeated felling of the flagstaff at Kororareka between 1844 and 1846 was a vivid rejection of the Union Jack, which was viewed as a symbol of British power over Maori.
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1902- present The Current Flag

At the end of the nineteenth century the blue ensign with the Southern Cross was a flag for maritime purposes only but it had gradually come to be used on land, even though the Union Jack remained the legal flag of New Zealand. With the outbreak of the South African War in 1899 and its associated patriotism and flag-waving, the confusion surrounding the correct flag was an embarrassment to Premier Seddon. In 1902 Seddon instituted the Blue Ensign with the stars of the Southern Cross the legal flag of New Zealand.
Full Story»

http://www.nzflag.com/history.cfm

They did like the United Tribes idea behind a solitary King, hence the current "Maori King and Maori Queen". And it suited some of the influential tribes at the time who were rapidly sweeping across the North Island in a manner not dissimilar to the Khans of Mongolia.

just as the British Citizens also appealed to others for much the same reasons - then the musket peoples armies were supposed to defend them if they signed. Sadly it didn't protect them from greedy and corrupt militia, or kangeroo courts who always took the white mans world over that of a native.

Also what I find disturbing about much of the Maori propaganda is that they fail to mention the rigid hierarchy inside the tribes. If you were born common then you were always at the beck and call of your "betters". If you were born to the ruling families then you were the leader of the tribe and that's all that mattered, each family had skills and a place, and when you were born that set who you were. You could fall down the hierarchy or sleep your way up it or be outcast and far game for any wannabe warrior or hunter during a famine. the ruling families always made the big decisions, did the representing, decided the future of the tribe - everyone else is expected to fall in line. That's why your parents and location of family is so important, that's why keeping the power over others was so critical - and why when the white folks showed up with another way of life, it was so attractive.

Oh come on KH....Hobson was sent here as the British Consul.....he was a fibber of huge proportions......as a French, English, Maori, Irish, Scottish descendent I know my family history and the events that occurred too!!

And on becoming British citizens with the signing of the Treaty we were all granted the Queens protection and the 1688 Bill of Rights, Magna Carte, Habeas Corpus and other Constitutional Rights....it is the longest running Tui add isn't it!!