{"story":["Ships were being built in New Zealand years before the country had a flag. From 1826 the Sydney firm of Raine, Ramsay and Browne ran a yard at Te Hōreke in the Hokianga, on land obtained from rangatira including Te Taonui, milling timber and building vessels. British navigation law required a certificate of registry, and ships built outside British or European territory could not get one. When the Sir George Murray, a 400-ton barque built at the yard, reached Port Jackson in November 1830, Customs seized it. Patuone and Te Taonui were on board, and Claudia Orange has described the seizure as 'an insult to their mana'.","James Busby saw an opening. Soon after arriving in 1833 he proposed that rangatira choose a flag for ships built in New Zealand, which he would then register in their name. He hoped the chiefs would grow used to acting together, and that a confederation and a government might follow. The first design sent from Sydney, blue and white bars with a Union Jack in the corner, was turned down because it had no red, the colour Māori linked with rank. The missionary Henry Williams had three other designs made up, and they arrived on HMS Alligator in March 1834.","The vote took place at Busby's residence at Waitangi on 20 March 1834, in a marquee made from the Alligator's sails. Accounts of the number of chiefs differ: Busby counted 25, William Williams 26, and the ship's surgeon William Marshall about 30. Each chief was called forward in turn and his choice written down. By Busby's tally the Church Missionary Society's own flag won with 12 votes, against 10 and three; Marshall had 12, 10 and six, with two chiefs abstaining out of suspicion. The winner was raised and the Alligator fired 21 guns. Busby allowed no discussion before the vote, so it happened afterwards. Kiwikiwi said disunity among Māori was why they now had to fly a flag at all, while Te Morenga argued that the strangers had brought blankets, tobacco, pigs and potatoes and ought to be protected.","The design went to London, and in December 1834 Lord Aberdeen sent word that King William IV approved it. The Royal Navy was told to respect the flag and the registers Busby issued jointly with the chiefs. Busby called the vote 'the first National Act of the New Zealand Chiefs'. Many of the same rangatira met again in 1835 to sign He Whakaputanga, whose fourth article expressed thanks for the King's acknowledgement of their flag. To northern Māori it signalled British recognition of New Zealand's independence and of the mana of its chiefs. After the treaty, Hobson had it taken down in the Bay of Islands. Hōne Heke wanted it flown beside the Union Jack as a mark of equal standing, and Tūhawaiki raised it on Ruapuke in 1844. It still matters to northern Māori."],"sources":[{"title":"United Tribes flag","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/flags-of-new-zealand/united-tribes-flag","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"He Whakaputanga me te Tiriti – The Declaration and the Treaty: The Report on Stage 1 of the Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry (Wai 1040)","url":"https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_85648980/Te%20Raki%20W.pdf","publisher":"Waitangi Tribunal"},{"title":"Choosing a flag","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/taming-the-frontier/first-flag","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Busby, James","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1b54/busby-james","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Declaration of Independence","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/declaration-of-independence-taming-the-frontier","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"}]}