28 January 2005
If New Zealand cannot calmly and sensibly debate the distant possibility of changing the national flag, then the whole point is lost and the campaign should be abandoned for another generation or two, says the Taranaki Daily News.
The advocates for change argue that a new flag would acknowledge New Zealand's hugely altered place in the world since the founding 1865 ensign was updated in 1900 – its independence and maturity.
A debate swamped by hectoring and hysteria would prove something else. Two years ago, the RSA made a dignified response to an earlier version of this freshly relaunched debate.
Representing those who fought under the flag, and those who devotedly remember the sacrifice, the RSA leaders cautiously said they would have no objection to change if that was what a clear majority of New Zealanders wanted.
They have given themselves, and the country, a good few years yet. There is no massive groundswell for change and certainly not from the Government in an election year.
If and when it happens, it will be when the national mood crosses paths with a design that captures the people's imagination. Even with a push, it might be quicker to wait for Don Brash to go on the dole.
The symbolism of flags is a curious business. They are mostly accidents of history, but become profoundly important to their citizens. Beyond those shores or boundaries, the iconography is largely meaningless.
Even among worldly and educated nations, fewer than about half a dozen national flags are instantly recognised. New Zealand's is very far from being one of them. Worse than that, it is similar to Australia's, with subtle differences that frequently elude Kiwis and Aussies alike.
The Australians might sniff that New Zealand copied theirs, and this is partially true: 140 years ago it was foisted on both countries by the ruling British administrators, with minor differences in the depiction of the Southern Cross.
New Zealand later recast and emboldened its four white stars with red centres, while Australia added a large sixth star under the Union Jack they both shared in the upper hoist corner.
Neither country is famous for its addiction to flag-hoisting, so the confusion is faintly understandable.
Perhaps the problem lies in not flying our flag often enough – although a 1980s minister of education tried to get schools to introduce daily flag-raising ceremonies and was laughed off the playground.
Try arbitrarily changing the design, however, and it is a different matter entirely. It is a matter for subtlety and gentle persuasion merely to have the discussion, which centres on gathering 300,000 signatures for a referendum asking whether New Zealanders want a new flag.
If so, a committee of prominent Kiwis would select a design, which would be matched against the current one in another national poll.
Or we could wait until Australia changes its flag, perhaps to background madris gras pink and desert ochre.
And Don Brash stands in the Winz queue.
Taranaki Daily News
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