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March 11, 2026
#history: Flagstaff Cut Down and Kororāreka Falls in Early Chapter of the New Zealand Wars
Matthew Tukaki
Posted On March 11, 2026
One of the most dramatic events in Aotearoa’s early colonial history unfolded on 11 March 1845 when Ngāpuhi forces led by Hōne Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti attacked the settlement of Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands, cutting down the British flagstaff on Maiki Hill for the fourth and final time.
The attack marked the fall of Kororāreka, now known as Russell, and signalled the beginning of the Northern War – the first major armed conflict between Māori and the British Crown after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
The flagstaff above the town had become a powerful symbol of British authority in the region. Heke had previously ordered it cut down three times as an act of protest against the growing influence of the colonial government and what many northern rangatira saw as a loss of Māori authority following the Treaty.
In the early hours of 11 March 1845, several hundred Ngāpuhi warriors moved toward the settlement. Kawiti led a diversionary attack at the southern end of the town while Heke’s force targeted the blockhouse defending the flagstaff. The structure was captured and the pole was cut down once again, this time for good.
Kororāreka was defended by British soldiers, sailors and armed settlers, but the settlement quickly fell under pressure. As fighting intensified, women and children were evacuated onto ships anchored in the harbour while troops attempted to hold defensive positions around the town.
During the battle an explosion at a powder magazine inside Polack’s stockade set surrounding buildings ablaze. British forces eventually abandoned the town and withdrew to the ships in the harbour. A Royal Navy vessel then began bombarding the settlement.
The destruction of Kororāreka shocked the colonial population. Much of the town was looted and burned after the defenders withdrew, with property losses estimated at around £50,000 – a huge sum at the time.
Although Heke and Kawiti had succeeded in driving the British from the settlement, the fall of Kororāreka was only the beginning of a wider conflict. Fighting continued across the north as different Ngāpuhi factions and British forces clashed in a series of battles that became known as the Northern War.
The conflict highlighted the tensions that had emerged only a few years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, as debates about sovereignty, authority and the future of the country intensified.
Today, the cutting down of the flagstaff remains one of the most enduring images from the early period of contact between Māori and the Crown, symbolising both resistance and the complex relationships that shaped the early years of colonial New Zealand.
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