Our Logo, Our Logo, Our Logo, Our Logo
Kia ora koe, e te tuakana, e Hahona,
It would not be right for me to speak about the logo without mentioning my upbringing with ‘the old people’ ara, na karoua, kuia o Te Teko. It is through living with all my koro and kuia and attending all the hui - tangihanga, hura kohatu, ngā rā me ngā hāpati o te haahi Ringatu- that I learned the true meaning of that saying and value ‘hoatu te aroha ki te tangata.’
Our grandfather, Eruera Manuera of the Pahipoto hapu of Ngati Awa always instilled this taonga upon his people, especially to all of us mokopuna. He was acknowledged as one of the last of the old school Chiefs of Ngati Awa.
I was fortunate to have been raised as one of his ‘whangai’ and he taught me to nurture this taonga to whomever, wherever I went. There are many times that I miss my grandparents and the old people, for the wisdom and aroha that they bestowed upon me. I am sure you would have had the same experiences living at Waiohou.
So when I was asked to develop a logo for the RTLB, the upbringing with my grandparents and the old people came to my mind. The theme would be based upon ‘love’ the love of people, but I made some alterations and changed it to ‘the love of children.’ This became the theme for the logo.
So yes, this is our logo, our ‘taonga’ from our old people. I like to think that they have left this taonga for us to use, as a reminder of them, and as a reminder to care for our children, our parents and our teachers. To me, this logo holds the wairua of our old people. It is the old people that gives it its mana.Heoi ano, I hope that gives you some understanding of the background to this taonga.
Wharewera Koopu created our logo back in 1998. The logo’s statement is “Love to all children.”
The large figures represent the parents and the teachers. The smaller figures represent the children who are embraced, taught and nurtured by the adults. The umbrella at the top of our logo symbolises this teaching happening underneath the shelter of the RTLB umbrella. The heart like shape is designed so that the child is at the centre of all movement.