Our Symbol
The Woven Flax Cross
Te Rīpeka Whiringa Harakeke
In some Māori circles, the art of weaving is a symbol of the way in which
the most fundamental life forms are knit together, evolve and grow. When one
flax strand is held in the hand ready to be criss-crossed with another, the
weaver says to herself "aroha atu" — "the love that goes forth".
As the second strand is placed across the first, she says "aroha mai"
— "the love that comes back". As love is sent out, so it returns: love given
and love received are the full meaning of love itself.
The emerging kete, or woven flax bag, becomes a living sign of the way love
creates — made to carry and share food and treasures between a community of
people. It exists to serve a common good, a practical sign of the way love
serves, which is the very nature of God.
The artist, Ross Hemara, was asked by the Anglican Church to design an
indigenous cross, picking up strands from all three Tikanga of the church in
these islands. The woven flax cross was chosen as the first work of art in
our prayer book and has become a sign of being Anglican in these islands.
At its centre is the koru, a sign of life, presented in red — the life blood,
the life-giving love which flows through the heart of the Christian message.
The flax strands move outwards, symbolising the life patterns of the Gospel
being formed in a new creation.
— Archbishop David Moxon
