Maoris believe Manaia is a guardian spirit, represented by a creature with a bird´s head, the body of a man and the tail of a fish, in order to symbolize the equilibrium between sky, earth and water. Manaia embodies multiple symbolic meanings: first, its shape recalls the 8 figure, which represents to Maoris the path of life, eternity; also, the hand of the man is often drawed with three fingers, to underline how Manaia is the messenger, the link between the three worlds: the worlds of men, spirits and divinities, in a neverending cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

In this specific design, the analogy with the same belief shared with the Celtic culture was remarked by adding a stylized triskell around the eye, and of another one inside the tail circle in the second version.