Flagstaff

He mea koha te pouhaki tuatahi ki a Hēmi Puhipi e te rangatira o Ngāpuhi, e Hōne Heke Pōkai. I muri atu ka nukua ki Kororāreka (koia ko Russell) i rāwāhi o te kōkoru. I te tau 1934 i whakatūria he pouhaki e Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, ka whakakapia i te 1947, ā, e noho tonu ana Te Taua Moana hei kaitaki i te pouhaki tae noa mai ki tēnei rā.

The wood for the flagstaff was donated by the Gisborne Sheepfarmers’ Company Limited, the Kauri Timber Company Limited and the Lands Department. When it was discovered that the main mast was rotting, the Royal New Zealand Navy replaced the flagstaff in 1947. The kauri to construct the 34-metre tall flagstaff was sourced from the Government Puketi Forest and the new masts were made onsite at the Treaty Grounds under the supervision of Robert Coutts who was working on repopulating the Grounds with native plants. The Navy remains the caretaker of the current flagstaff to this day and is present every year on Waitangi Day.

He mea kōwhiri te haki tuatahi o Aotearoa i tētahi huinga rangatira i Waitangi i te 20 o Maehe 1834, hei whakarite kia tautohua ngā kaipuke he mea hanga i Aotearoa, nō ngā tāngata hoki o Aotearoa, e ērā atu whenua o te ao. I tono te kainoho Piritene, a Hēmi Puhipi, i ngā rangatira Māori kia kōwhiri i tētahi o ngā hoahoa e toru mō te haki. E kapakapa mai ana tēnei haki, e mōhiotia ana ko Te Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Niu Tireni, i te pou huapae ki te raki o te pouhaki. I whakaatu mai te whakaaetanga a Piritene ki taua haki e kitea ana te whenua nei puta noa i te ao hei whenua motuhake, ka mutu, ka wātea ngā kaipuke o Aotearoa te whakatere me te tauhokohoko ki tāwāhi me te kore whakapae o ngā mahi kaitiora.

E kawea ana e te pouhaki e Kara o Te Whakaminenga o Ngā Hapū o Niu Tireni ki te raki, te Tiaki o Ingarangi  ki te tonga, me te haki o Aotearoa i waenganui. I ngā wā kei Waitangi te Kāwana-Tianara, e kapakapa ana tana haki i runga ake i te haki o Aotearoa.