Flags in schools

Jack and Rewi Moynihan unfurling the flag, Shannon School, 1901.

Flags in schools

In the 19th and early 20th century there was considerable public and government support for flag raising ceremonies in schools. Regulations introduced during the Second World War to dictate when and how schools held ceremonies to honour the flag also appeared to have been widely supported. But plans a few decades later to reinvigorate these regulations and make daily flag raising in schools compulsory aroused great debate. School flag poles were even chopped down in protest in some areas.

19th and early 20th century

Towards the end of the 19th century the notion of using the flag to promote patriotic and imperial ideals was raised. As one member of the House of Representatives described it, to know the history of the flag was to 'have his heart warmed and his national feeling quickened, and be fired with love and affection for his flag'. Letters to the newspapers called on the Government and Education Boards to instill in children a respect for the flag, with flag-raising ceremonies to heighten a sense of national identity and pride.

The Government initially responded by making occasional gifts of flags to schools. During the fervour of the South African War, when 'more flags were carried and paraded than there ever had been before', the Government extended its commitment by calling for tenders to supply schools with flags. With the support of successive Governors and Governors-General, patriotic societies such as the Navy League and the Victoria League also worked to encourage the use of the flag in schools. The Navy League made regular presentations of Union Jacks to schools from the early 1900s, and various Governors-General continued to oversee the donation of flags to schools by other organisations well into the 1940s.

The increasing popularity of saluting the flag in schools also prompted the New Zealand Journal of Education in 1903 to issue rules for 'flag drills' to be undertaken by primary schoolchildren marching in formation. These ceremonies were designed to encourage children to appreciate the honour of the flag, and by association, New Zealand's role in the British Empire. Weekly ceremonies to salute the flag even became compulsory in all public schools from 1921. Both the Union Jack and the New Zealand Flag were used in school ceremonies, suggesting that patriotism focused on ideas of Empire, rather than a distinct New Zealand identity.

Second World War

During the Second World War the Labour MP and Minister of Education, Henry Mason, introduced regulations on honouring the flag in schools. These regulations were required because some education boards had bylaws relating to the saluting of the flag, but these bylaws went beyond their powers.

The 'Ceremony of Honouring the Flag Regulations 1941' came into force in November 1941. They required public schools to 'observe the ceremony of honouring the flag' to commemorate a number of days. These days included some still commemorated today like Waitangi Day and Anzac Day, but also days that have now fallen out of use like Empire Day and Dominion Day. 

1980s revival 

In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were announcements from various government ministers of schemes to 'rekindle national pride'. This included making flags available to the public at a reasonable cost and ceremonies honouring the flag in schools. In 1981 the Ministerial vehicle fleet was allocated small national flags to be flown 'on any occasion when a Minister is travelling to Parliament or to official business'. Prime Minister Rob Muldoon was the first to travel under the national flag. By this time regulations relating to school ceremonies had fallen into abeyance, though many schools continued to hoist their flags on key dates.

In early 1984 National MP and Minister of Education Merv Wellington announced that it would be compulsory for all state primary, intermediate, area and secondary schools to fly the flag daily from the beginning of the next school year. He explained that as the 1941 regulations still stood, this was ‘not so much a new policy as an updating of an old regulation'.

The idea was promptly criticised. Some questioned the need for such an activity to be made compulsory. Labour party education spokesperson Russell Marshall argued:

If it was left up to individual schools I think I could accept that, but making it compulsory indicates a pretty strange set of priorities.

Representatives of Education Boards also expressed concern. The Minister had advised that the estimated cost of supplying new flags and flagpoles was $340,000, and Boards were expected to meet these costs from within existing funds. In the months that followed the costs mounted further as some people took to protesting against the plan by chopping down school flagpoles.

Despite this opposition the Minister proceeded with his plan. In May a circular was distributed to schools outlining the procedures for honouring the flag. But the plan proceeded no further. In July there was a snap election, and a Labour government was elected. In October 1984 Russell Marshall, now the Minister of Education, announced that the flag-raising plan had been dropped, as he believed it should be ‘purely voluntary'. He also revoked the 1941 regulations.

Further information

• Henry Mason (DNZB)
• Merv Wellington (Wikipedia)
• Russell Marshall (Wikipedia)