The Motivation Behind This Flag
Comments Below:
* Why was this flag designed?
* Is my proposed flag 'too Maori'?
* Is my proposed flag not Maori enough?
* Why no Union Jack?
* What about the Silver Fern? or kiwi?
* What about service organisations?
* What should we do with the current NZ Flag (the NZ Ensign)
* A suggestion to fly the NZ Ensign in pre-eminent place on ANZAC day
Various people have suggested over the years that New Zealand should change its flag. This debate has recently received publicity in newspapers, on the Holmes show (26 May 2004), and there is a web site www.nzflag.com which is dedicated to promoting a referendum on the Flag. Many prominent New Zealanders have spoken in favour of replacing the existing flag with something different.
Now I felt quite happy with the current flag, but I could see that this issue wasn’t going to go away and that eventually the pressure to change the flag might become inevitable, especially if the Republican movement grows.
In that case what sort of flag would we end up with? None of the proposed flags I had seen to this point had appealed to me. They tended to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ by deliberately removing all British connections from the flag and perhaps simply emphasising Maori symbols (e.g. the koru) or sport (silver fern) or some simple icon such as the kiwi. I felt strongly that a flag should be more than just a brand: it should have meaning and symbolism. It should do more than label the place, it should say something about us.
Therefore I put forward this flag, which I call the New Zealand Heritage Flag. The design is deliberately evocative of many different aspects of New Zealand’s heritage, that is, our environment, history, culture, location and future. Different people will be reminded in different ways of the New Zealand they love.
Some people may say "I don't have any Maori blood, so I don't like the koru, that's just too Maori". I say "OK, think of it instead
as a wave, or a shape outlining and surrounding the main Islands of New Zealand, or as a yound fern frond about to burst out. But just as you have a right not to think of it as a koru, other New Zealanders have a right to celebrate it as a symbol of Maori and the Treaty at the centre of the flag. Still other New Zealanders will say that that shape is totally inadequate as a koru or as a representative of Maori, and that it must be expanded and added to. The point is that you and they are all New Zealanders - and I say that this diversity of opinion is part of what makes us who we are as a nation."
You and I don't have to entirely agree on who we are and what we aspire to. Different people will emphasise different things. But I think there are enough reminders of New Zealand in this flag for most people to relate to a number of aspects of it, and that's why I am putting it forward.
Indeed people may see different things in the flag from day to day as their feelings change.
After having designed it, I went for about a fortnight seeing some new reminder in it each day. So I hope it will emotionally connect with and inspire you also. Some ways of thinking about the flag are suggested in the composition ‘Many Voices One Flag’, and I’m sure there will be other ways of thinking about it too.
To people who would say my "koru" is not Maori enough, I would respond that it is a reminder of a Maori design rather than being a Maori design; just as the red-white-blue stars are a reminder of the Union Jack rather than being a Union Jack; and the blue is a reminder of the sea and sky rather than being either one, etc.
As well as suggesting meanings, the composition has a theme of ‘Unity in Diversity’. Just as the same person can be loved and appreciated as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, colleague, teacher and friend, so different people can love this country for different reasons and that’s OK – in fact its great, because it reminds us of what a wonderful and multifaceted country and people this is. We may not agree with each other’s emphasis but we recognise each other as contributing to the whole that is distinctively New Zealand.
Why no Union Jack?
You will notice that I have not explicitly included the Union Jack in the Heritage Flag. This was not at all to denigrate things British, as I honour my ancestors, who are all of English, Scottish and Irish descent. Rather, the Union Jack was excluded because it is such a dominant and complex symbol and it seemed to me that either one kept the whole current flag or devised something without the Union Jack. So instead I have followed the lead of Governor Bowen and others who ordered that the stars be red with white borders to reflect the colours of the Union Jack, as well as because red represented high rank to Maori.
What about the current New Zealand flag, the NZ Ensign?
If it happens that this or some other flag is adopted New Zealand’s national flag in future, then I should not like to see the New Zealand Ensign abandoned altogether. Rather I believe it should continue to be protected and honoured as a New Zealand flag, especially in relation to military commemorations. For example the new national flag might be flown in the place of highest honour on every other day, but the New Zealand Ensign flown in the place of highest honour on Anzac Day and perhaps Remembrance Day, as a mark of special honour to those who gave so much in the service of this country.
So what about the silver fern flag? or a kiwi?
Whatever flag we adopt, the silver fern will still be our national plant emblem and the kiwi our national animal emblem. So if they don't appear on the flag it does not mean we lose them. We can still use them either by themselves or in conjunction with the flag.
What would happen, if we only use a silver fern flag, is that we would be giving up the image of the four red stars with white borders as representing New Zealand. Many companies (such as the Bank of New Zealand) use the stars to represent New Zealand, and would lose that association. The Auckland Commonwealth Games used four white stars outlined in red. We would also lose the opportunity to emphasise the koru as a New Zealand symbol.
More comments about the black and white silver fern flag are on the Criticisms page.
Why not add a fern or kiwi to the proposed design? There's plenty of space in the middle.
The answer of course is that we could! We could, say, put a black fern in the middle of the flag. But I recommend leaving that space for service organisations (police, navy, fire service, etc.) or clubs to add their badge in the middle. That way the national flag remains uncluttered, but we have a way to cater for these organisations. Indeed a big advantage of my flag proposal is that it gives plenty of scope for logos and designs that adapt the flag. A link below shows how a fern logo could be incorporated into the flag as an extra.
I accept that there will be criticism of this flag design. I will in due course set up a web page with criticisms of this or other flags, if people send them to me. Some criticisms are discussed on the 'Criticisms' page linked below. Also if other people come up with their own proposed flags or web sites I will link to them on the page 'other people's proposals' referred to below.
Links
Back to Flag Home Page
Something Odd in the Coat Of Arms
Criticisms of my and other proposed flags
Links to other people's proposals for new flags
Link to Heritage Koru Flag
Email me !
