Story: Kīngitanga – the Māori King movement

This is the flag of the seventh Māori monarch and first Māori queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, flying at Waahi pā, Huntly. Dame Te Ata, as she was often known, died in 2006.

The flag of the Kīngitanga movement is also the personal flag of the current monarch and is flown at the official residence at Tūrangawaewae, Ngāruawāhia. The flag precedes the monarch when he or she visits other marae that recognise the authority of the Kīngitanga. When the monarch dies, their personal flag is interred with them and a new one is made for their successor. Each new flag is strictly tapu and is kept by a hereditary custodian.