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Story: Ngā rōpū – Māori organisations

United Tribes' flag

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United Tribes' flag

Two Māori are shown below the flag of the United Tribes. The United Tribes, or Wakaminenga o Nu Tirene, signed the Declaration of Independence on 28 October 1835. Their flag had already been selected and adopted the previous year.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MS-1550-120

by Edward Markham

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ngapare Hopa, Ngā rōpū – Māori organisations – 19th-century Māori organisations, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/29677/united-tribes-flag (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ngapare Hopa, published 3 May 2011, updated 1 June 2017.