20 July 2004
Editorial
by Dave Cadman
Patriotism. National pride. Mana.
The New Zealand flag.
The latter is the physical embodiment of the former.
Sure, we have others: the kiwi, the silver fern, the All Black jersey, but the New Zealand flag is paramount.
It is a sacred symbol protected by law.
So it is easy to understand why all this talk of changing it has been raising the hackles of conservative New Zealand.
But let’s face it, the old rag’s time is done.
As much as patriotism is tied to tradition, a generation after we choose a new flag no one will care as long as we have a banner to wave when we smite our collective foes.
The current job, proud as we are of it, no longer represents us as a nation.
We are a proud country with an independent voice, but it is easy to understand why the rest of the world mistakes us for a state of Australia.
How many stars does ours have again?
But what to replace it with.
For starters, any dominant reference to England has to go.
We are breaking our ties with the motherland; they shafted us over lamb and butter, we have replaced the Privy Council with our own Supreme Court and Ben Lummis is at least as famous among teenage girls as princes William and Harry.
Sure the majority of New Zealanders have ties to Old Blighty, but if God Save the Queen still brings a tear to your eye there is a flag for you.
It’s called the Union Jack, fly it at your leisure.
There has been suggestion of leaving the overall design in place but replacing the British flag with the tino rangitiratanga motif.
However, this is not a serious contender because even if it received majority support, thanks to Don Brash (or DB Bitter as I like to think of him) the remainder of the population would riot in the streets.
But before we dismiss it outright, lets give it due consideration.
A Maori motif is not unreasonable.
As mentioned before, those whose loyalties that lie outside the Antipodes can always fly the banner of their ancestral homeland, but for Maori, as tangata whenua, have no other home to call their own and it seems only fair to acknowledge that.
At www.nzflag.com you can find an appalling rendition of Frederick Hundertwasser’s koru flag, which, while a little plain, is no doubt a symbol we can all relate to.
Currently in vogue is the site’s preferred design, the silver fern on a black field.
This would have done the trick in Colin Meads’ heyday.
Who wouldn’t feel that shiver of pride seeing our nation’s symbol punctuated by meaty slaps on black-jerseyed chests as mutton-chopped warriors cried defiance at all comers.
But in today’s era of professional sports the silver fern too often shares the limelight (sometimes the smaller portion) with Steinlager, Fisher and Paykell or whoever else is sponsoring our nation teams at the time.
So the debate rages on (I hope you weren’t looking to me for a solution) but there is another option.
New Zealand could follow Iraq’s example and have a Coalition Provisional
Authority imposed upon it who could simply tell us what our new flag is –
at gunpoint.
Cook Strait News
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