About Our Olympic Kakahu, Te Mahutonga
The kakahu (cloak) is worn only by the flagbearer of New Zealand Olympic teams and is a symbol of the Māori traditions at the core of our unique team culture. It was first worn at Athens in 2004. Te Mahutonga (Southern Cross) was presented to the New Zealand Olympic Committee by the Maori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, in 2004.
The kakahu has been entirely hand woven and took seven months of concentrated work to complete, led by masterweaver and kuia Ranui Ngarimu. The cloak is not just an exquisite work of art, but a mantle of leadership too. A second exquisite cloak has also been more recently loaned to the team by Ranui Ngarimu and worn alongside Te Mahutonga at the Opening Ceremonies in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and now Beijing 2022.
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