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Government and nation


by John Wilson

As members of the British Empire, New Zealanders once sang ‘God save the King’. But since 1977 there has been another national anthem, ‘God defend New Zealand’, which today is often sung in Māori as well. Like the emblematic silver fern, it symbolises the emergence of a distinctive, independent democracy in the South Pacific.

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Main image: New Zealand coat of arms

New Zealand coat of arms


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