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Mārahau Village (New Zealand)

image by James Dignan, 2 June 2024
based on photo provided by John Moody, 1 February 2020

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

From https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/117812535/marahaus-flag-flies-proudly-over-independent-community (Dec 05 2019):
Marahau's new flag, named Te Hau, flies along the foreshore of the Abel Tasman township. It was designed by local artist Tim Wraight and spearheaded by vexillophile Wally Bruce. Flags to mark Marahau's "independent" character are flying over the beachside village thanks to a collaboration between an artist and a flag enthusiast. The flag named Te Hau was designed by local sculptor Tim Wraight in 2012 during an exhibition focused on the "autonomous enclave" of Marahau and its neighbouring inlet, Otuwhero. Wraight said the flag was created after input from the seaside community and inspiration from the surrounding environment.
The blue represents the sea and sky, the green triangle for Takaka Hill, the golden sand bay is depicted in the crescent moon and the two stars are the two islands, Adele and Fisherman.
The gateway to the popular tourist destination deserved its own flag, he said, because Marahau and Otuwhero locals felt "very separate from the rest of the region. We kind of feel a little bit independent."
Despite being the flag's creator, Wraight said it was Marahau vexillophile Wally Bruce who spearheaded the idea of making the flag official. Bruce said he had been passionate about flags for "years and years and years". When he arrived in Marahau in 2010 to run a business, Bruce was keen to set up a flag. "I found out before too long there was already one but it had been developed a number of years ago and been shelved."
John Moody, 1 February 2020

A tiny bit of information about Marahau. It's a small settlement close to the top of the South Island, and is the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. It lies on the northwestern coast of Tasman Bay, 50 kilometres northwest of the nearest city, Nelson.
The area's landscape is dominated by two large bays, Golden Bay and Tasman Bay, and by the limestone hills of Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks. These hills contain many of New Zealand's most famous caves, and are also significant in that they act as a natural filter for local groundwater systems, producing some of the country's clearest lakes and rivers. Among these hills is the (somewhat notorious) Takaka Hill, which is crossed by the area's main highway in a series of sharply winding turns.
Marahau itself is little more than a service town for the national park, with many tourists passing through on the way. It has a population of about 600. The nearest town of any significant size is Motueka, 10 kilometres to the south.
James Dignan, 2 February 2020

The flag's design - which is unusual as it is vertical - represents the local landmark of Takaka Hill, the crescent form of the bay on which Mārahau is located, and its two offshore islands, Motuareronui (Adele) Island and Fisherman Island.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/117812535/marahaus-flag-flies-proudly-over-independent-community
James Dignan, 2 June 2024