Unity spotted a flag snapping in the wind above a government building. Beside it, a silver fern on a sign caught the afternoon light and seemed to glow.

"Symbols tell stories," said Unity. "Ours tell the story of where we came from and who we are."

The New Zealand flag is blue with two important symbols on it. In the top left corner is the Union Jack — the flag of Britain — which reflects our history as a British colony. On the right side are four red stars outlined in white. They form the Southern Cross, the constellation you can see in our night sky here in the Southern Hemisphere. The Southern Cross has guided navigators for centuries — including the Māori ancestors who first found Aotearoa.

Our national anthem is God Defend New Zealand, known in Māori as Aotearoa. At most official events, the Māori version is sung first. New Zealand is one of very few countries in the world where the national anthem is regularly sung in an indigenous language at public occasions.

The silver fern is perhaps our most loved symbol. The fern grows throughout New Zealand's forests. When moonlight catches the underside of its fronds, they glow silver in the dark — Māori navigators once used this to find their way through the bush at night. Today the silver fern appears on our sporting teams, our passports, and our coins.

And then there is the kiwi — that is me. The kiwi bird is found nowhere else on Earth. It cannot fly. It comes out at night. It is a little unusual, a little stubborn, and completely unique to Aotearoa. Just like us.