From 1955, new citizens have sworn their allegiance to the British Queen and loyalty to New Zealand at public ceremonies. Most new citizens take the ceremony seriously and dress formally for it. However, to receive her citizenship certificate from Dunedin’s mayor in 1998, English-born Anni Watkins dressed in a black singlet, wore gumboots, draped a roll of no. 8 fencing wire over her shoulder, and dragged a Buzzy Bee toy – all symbols of New Zealand identity. In this photograph she is showing her daughter, Neli Padgett, her certificate of citizenship.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: 9 April 1998
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