transportation

In June 2007 the regional parliament (General Fono) decided over the future flag, anthem and national symbol of Tokelau. The proposed flag depicted a stylized Polynesian canoe and four stars. The stars represent the three main islands and also Swains Island, administered by the United States (American Samoa) but claimed by Tokelau. As the required supermajority was not reached in the 2007 self-determination referendum, the flag was not officially adopted.

The unofficial flag of the Chatham Islands is a blue field with a map of the island in the centre, the Te Whanga Lagoon depicted in white. Behind this device map is a depiction of the rising sun, an allusion to its local name Rekohu, meaning ‘rising sun’.

The flag was designed by Logan Alderson, a former New Zealand police officer.

At the 2005 opening of a new marae on the islands (which included a rare visit by the Prime Minister), the Chathams flag was clearly seen flying from a flagpole over the marae.

New Zealand’s first flag, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, was adopted in 1834, six years before New Zealand’s separation from New South Wales and creation as a separate colony following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Chosen by an assembly of Māori chiefs at Waitangi in 1834, the flag was of a St George’s Cross with another cross in the canton containing four stars on a blue field. After the formation of the colony in 1840, British ensigns began to be used. The current flag was designed and adopted for use on the colony’s ships in 1869, was quickly adopted as New Zealand’s national flag, and given statutory recognition in 1902.