Thomas Davis (Cook Islands politician) serve as High Commissioner to New Zealand. During Davis's first term as Prime Minister, two changes were made to the constitution which altered the symbols of the country. In 1979, the Cook Islands Ensign was adopted to replace the previous flag of 15 yellow stars on a green background. In 1982, "Te Atua Mou E" was adopted as the national anthem of the Cook Islands, replacing "God Defend New Zealand". Davis wrote the music to "Te Atua Mou E" and his wife wrote the lyrics. Davis co-authored the autobiographical "Doctor to the Islands" (1955) and the novel "Makutu" (1960) with
Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands had been proposed, which retained the Union flag but which was defaced with a white crescent and three stars against a blue background. The crescent would be emblematic of the name of the islands (Turks, referring to the flag of what were then the Safavid Empire or Ottoman Empire) and the three stars would refer to Grand Turk, Salt Cay and the Caicos Group. This alternative was proposed by Melfort Campbell, who was the Council President of the islands from 1869 to 1872 as a simplification, due to the difficulty and expense of emblazoning the coat of arms of the