20 March 1834
New Zealand’s history is not long, but it is fast. In less than a thousand years these islands have produced two new peoples: the Polynesian Maori and European New Zealanders. The latter are often known by their Maori name, ‘Pakeha’ (though not all like the term). The Australian Flag. The Australian Flag came into being after the the federation of the Australian States into the Commonwealth of Australian on 1 January, 1901. 1834 - 1840 The Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand. New Zealand's first flag was designed by a senior missionary of the Church Missionary Society, sewn up by an Australian and voted on by 25 Maori Chiefs from the Far North. At the end of the nineteenth century the blue ensign with the Southern Cross was a flag for maritime purposes only but it had gradually come to be used on land, even though the Union Jack remained the legal flag of New Zealand. The flag of the United Tribes. United Tribes of New Zealand flag. New Zealand's first official flag was this one, the flag of the United Tribes. It was selected on 20 March 1834 by 25 chiefs from the far north who, with their followers, had gathered at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/history http://www.anbg.gov.au/oz/flag.html http://nzflag.com/history.cfm http://nzflag.com/history.cfm http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/classroom/new-zealands-first-flag-social-studies-activities/new-zealands-first-flag-social-studies-activities
when did the new zealand flag come into being