page_title: United Tribes of New Zealand
section_title: Flag
hierarchical_section_title: United Tribes of New Zealand / Flag
caption_attribution_description: Waitangi Day celebration at Waitangi in 2006.
context_page_description: The United Tribes of New Zealand was a confederation of Māori tribes based in the north of the North Island.
context_section_description: The idea of a flag to represent New Zealand first arose when the New Zealand-built trading ship Sir George Murray was seized in Sydney for sailing without a flag or register in 1830. British navigation laws applied in Australia and ruled that every ship must carry an official certificate that included the nationality of the ship. New Zealand was not yet a British colony, so could not sail under a British flag or register. With no flag to represent the islands, trading ships and their cargoes could be confiscated. While a temporary licence was granted for the Sir George Murray by New South Wales authorities, it was clear that a more permanent solution was needed. Busby was approached by Maori chiefs in 1833 about the matter of a flag. Busby asked Reverend Williams and the Colonial Secretary Richard Bourke in New South Wales for assistance, and, with additional consultation with tribal leaders, three designs were drawn up. 
  On 20 March 1834, three designs were put to 25 northern Maori chiefs at Waitangi by James Busby and Captain Lambert of the man-of-war HMS Alligator. By a vote of 12-10-3, the design now widely known as the United Tribes Flag was chosen. British, American, and French representatives witnessed the ceremony, which included a 13-gun salute from the Alligator.
  The flag was based in part on the St George's Cross that was already used by the Church Missionary Society, with a canton featuring a smaller red cross on a blue background fimbriated in black, and with a white eight-pointed star in each quarter of the canton. When officially gazetted in New South Wales in August 1835, the description did not mention the fimbriation or the number of points on the stars. The description was: "A red St. George's Cross on a white ground. In the first quarter, a red St. George's Cross on a blue ground, pierced with four white stars." This version of the flag served as the de facto national flag of New Zealand from 1835 until the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, although the United Tribes flag continued to be used as a New Zealand flag after the Treaty, for example the flag features on the medals presented to soldiers who served in the South African War (1899–1902).
  The version of the flag with black fimbriation and eight-pointed stars is widely used today as a flag by Māori groups throughout New Zealand, who also refer to it as the He Whakaputanga flag. 
  In July 2009 it was proposed as one of four possible designs for an official Māori flag at a series of hui around New Zealand. The flag is also occasionally encountered with black or white fimbriation and six-pointed stars.
  As stated in E.M.C. Barraclough's book Flags of the World (ISBN 978-0723220152), The Shaw, Savill & Albion Line used this flag (though with white fimbriation instead of black and a proportions change from 1:2 to 3:5) as its company flag during its existence from 1882 to 1974.
caption: The flag pole at Waitangi, flying (left – right) the Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, the Ensign of the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Union Flag, 5 February 2006
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