12 August 2004
Calling for a new flag is always going to raise a nation's patriotic pulse. To some people, the current flag no longer represents the country New Zealand has become, says the Nelson Mail in an editorial.
As the United Kingdom increasingly beds down with its European neighbours, the Union Jack has never seemed less relevant to an independent-minded country deep in the South Pacific. However, not everyone sees our flag as a fading token of a colonial past. To some, it is the standard under which family members fought and died for. To others, it is an important part of our national heritage, and abandoning it would represent a leap into national decay.
The present campaign for change is nothing new. A survey in the mid-1980s during similar debate took some heat from the issue, with a large majority then preferring the status quo.
Countries tend to change their flags as their nationhood evolves, and New Zealand and Australia remain the only two major independent Commonwealth countries which retain the symbolic suggestion of being subordinate to Britain.
Confusion caused by the similarity of the trans-Tasman neighbours' emblems is one good reason for change.
Countries to adopt a fresh look, flag-wise, in more recent decades include South Africa in 1994, Canada in 1965 and France in 1948. It is the sort of change rarely accomplished without vigorous debate.
New Zealand has had its flag since 1902.
Our Olympics chef de mission, Dave Currie, says he would rather have been able
to see the team marching in Saturday's opening ceremony under a new flag based
on the silver fern, and adds that most of the athletes agree.
A campaign launched in August seeking backing for a referendum on the issue
has attracted some prominent names and received a high profile, yet it is difficult
to assess how deeply the desire for change runs without some sort of national
poll.
There is certainly little enthusiasm from the Government to take on another
potentially risky cause. However, the flag's days are surely numbered. Change
is a matter of when, rather than if.
The Nelson Mail
© 2004 Fairfax New Zealand Limited