History is being brought to the fore in Auckland this morning, as Ngapuhi and MOTAT join the flag debate.

Hone Heke's tribal flag has travelled from Waitangi and is being unveiled at a dawn powhiri at the museum.

The Ngapuhi chief ordered the cutting down of the flagpole at the British settlement of Russell four times in the 1840s, to show tension between Maori and the British government.

Heke's tribal flag will be displayed at MOTAT next to the current New Zealand flag, the alternative flag design and the Maori flag for the duration of the referendum.

CEO Michael Frawley said it will allow people to consider the pros and cons of the current flag and alternative flag design.

He says Ngapuhi wanted to put Hone Heke's flag in a neutral place and play a pan-tribal role in the debate.

"But at the same time, remind people that Hone Heke going back in history was one of the people that was sort of questioning what is New Zealand's flag, what should it be like."

Ngapuhi leader David Rankin arranged the loan with MOTAT.

He said with the second referendum starting, today is an important day for New Zealanders - when we question our national identity.

Rankin's welcoming the democratic process but said Maori are very patriotic when it comes to the current flag.

He said the current flag "has been baptised by fire and blood", with Maori forefathers fighting for it from the Dardanelles to the Mekong Delta.

Rankin said all Maori have a family member who served in the Pioneer or Maori battalions, and therefore feel patriotism for the current flag.

Michael Frawley said New Zealand's flag design is not a new issue, and he suspects this may not be the end of it.

"Whatever the outcome of the latest referendum, I suspect somewhere down the line the flag debate will be revisited.

"As history shows, the history leads to the present, and the present leads to the future."