A koru flag was designed by

Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 February 2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (), was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection ...

in 1983 and proposed as a secondary flag for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Overview

As black is a traditional colour of the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, the flag has a black strip on the left side. There is a

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

green spiral which starts by taking up the entire width of the flag but decreases gradually, splitting it diagonally and finally curling up into a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

on the right side. This curling

is based on a Māori pattern known as the ''

koru The is a spiral shape evoking a newly Circinate vernation, unfurling frond from a Cyathea dealbata, silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori people, Māori art, bone carving, carving and Tā moko, tattooing, where it symbolise ...

'', and the corresponding white spiral alludes to

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

, a Māori name for New Zealand meaning ''Land of the Long White Cloud''. Hundertwasser also saw the design as representing humanity in harmony with nature. It is claimed by some New Zealanders that the current

flag of New Zealand The flag of New Zealand (), also known as the New Zealand Ensign, is based on the British maritime Blue Ensigna blue field with the Union Jack in the ''canton (flag), canton'' or upper hoist corneraugmented or ''Defacement (flag), defaced'' wit ...

is a reminder of British

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

and does not truly represent their culture; however, those who support the current flag say that it represents the history of the country as a part of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and location in the southern hemisphere. The flag can be seen on the counter of the convenience store in the 1997 film ''

subUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

''.

NZ flag design Modern Hundertwasser by Tomas Cottle

A design based on Hundertwasser's flag with the black bar removed was submitted by Tomas Cottle in the

2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums Two referendums were held by the New Zealand Government in November/December 2015 and March 2016 to determine the nation's flag. The voting resulted in the retention of the existing flag of New Zealand. Shortly after the referendum announceme ...

under the name 'Modern Hundertwasser'. It was initially selected for inclusion in the long list of 40 designs, but was removed due to a copyright claim by the Hundertwasser Foundation.

References

External links

Hundertwasser koru flag
, NZHistory, Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Flags of the World {{New Zealand flags Proposed flags of New Zealand Māori politics Māori culture Flags introduced in 1983

Overview

See also

References

External links