Flags were not part of traditional Māori culture, but Māori soon recognised their symbolic power. In the early 19th century Māori were recorded using garments as flags. Māori-designed flags proper emerged in the lead-up to the New Zealand wars of the mid-19th century.

This photo shows flags being flown at the opening of the Maunga Moria Church, near Castlepoint in Wairarapa, around 1900. This church was a place of worship for followers of the prophetic Māori Church of the Seven Rules of Jehovah. What appears to be the New Zealand Blue Ensign was raised to the position of honour at the top. The flag used by prophet Pāora Te Pōtangaroa is second from the left.