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 Austral Islands symbolizes the archipelago. The red stripes are a reminder that the archipelago is part of French Polynesia, and blue symbolizes the sea. The colors are prescribed as red Pantone 185c and blue Pantone 286c. On 4 December 1985 the Territorial Government decreed that the flags of the archipelagos and islands of French Polynesia may be flown next to the French Polynesian Territorial and French National flags. The former flag of the Austral Islands has a white vertical stripe placed along the hoist, covering 1/3 of the flag length and containing the writing ARCHIPEL / DES / ILES / AUSTRALES ("Archipelago