1. My response to a newsgroup correspondant "Flyinyoureye" who didn't like the koru flag because it wasn't "neutral"
His comment:
This flag replaces the British colonial symbol (Union Flag) with a
Maori symbol (koru) so ends up being no better than the existing one. The
Southern Cross, the silver fern, and even (god forbid) the kiwi are all
neutral symbols that no one culture claims "ownership" over.
My reply:
I would say that there are two basic approaches to flag design. One
is a uniformity approach, and the other is the "unity with diversity"
approach.
The uniformity approach says, "lets try to find a single symbol to
represent us all. It will be neutral to everyone, a
lowest-common-denominator that everyone will agree is part of New
Zealand, and hopefully be a distinctive flag."
According to the uniformity approach the koru and Union Jack are
rejected because they refer to particular ethnic groups; the southern
cross is tentatively accepted, but only tentatively as it is common to
other Pacific Island flags and so not distinctive enough. Since the
kiwi doesn't look good on a flag we are left with the silver fern.
This is what the uniformity approach brings us to.
I object to this on three grounds.
One is taste: I think white on black is a poor colour for a national
flag to represent our beautiful New Zealand. Sure it's fine for a
sports flag, just like the Australians have the boxing kangaroo, the
English have lions or roses, and the South Africans have springbok and
proteas, etc. We can keep it for that. For a sports flag a hint of
mystery and piracy is ok. But not for the national flag. To many
people, black is a very sinister colour. I want a symbol that sends
a positive, colourful image of New Zealand to the world.
A second objection is that the black and white silver fern may be
ethnically neutral but it is not culturally neutral in meaning. It
means sport, particularly the All Blacks. So it idolises one part of
New Zealand's culture and ignores other parts. Some people will feel
New Zealand's environment, history, or other aspects of culture, are
just as important to them.
Thirdly I object to the whole uniformity approach in the first place.
Why do we have to force everyone into the same mould? Why a single
symbol? For example, how many people would want to go to a shop
where the only jumper you could buy was an All-Black-look-alike, size
L. New Zealand is not a uniform place, and I would prefer a flag that
allows and celebrates diversity rather than standardising everyone.
So the other approach, which we see on a number of flag proposals, is
to try to find something that expresses diversity within our unity as
nation.
I think some efforts go too far, such as basing a flag on pre-existing
Maori symbols such as the tino rangatiratanga flag or kowhaiwhai. I
don't think those will work for the country as a whole. I have tried
to compromise by putting in something that hints at a koru but doesn't
have to be thought of that way. You can think of that curve at the
end of the line as simply a wave bursting on the world scene, or a
young fern frond about to burst out with life and vigour, or as a ring
around New Zealand on a map. If someone else wants to think of it as
particularly Maori, that's up to them. I know some people will think
it is not Maori enough. They are part of New Zealand too.
In the same way my roots are entirely English, Scottish and Irish,
even though my people have been here since the 1860s. I object
strongly to someone saying I can't have something that represents my
main cultural identity on the flag. My compromise is to have the
red-white-blue stars of the Southern Cross. They represent me and my
family much more than silver fern does. But of course Maori or
Pacific Islanders or Asians can think of the stars in a different way
too. That's celebrating cultural diversity. By accepting their right
to be different and think differently, I am affirming one of the key
aspects of New Zealand's culture.
2. "As far as I am concerned the only function of a flag is to
clearly indicate who it belongs to and how well it performs that
function is the only criterion by which it should be judged."
I'm sad that you are unwilling to use more imagination about how a
flag could be used. Many flags have a meaning that is intended to be
in some way inspiring.
I know we are called kiwis, but to me it would seem a terrible waste
of opportunity to have a national flag with no more meaning than a
depiction of a local brown spotted flightless nocturnal bird that eats
roots and grubs and is in danger of extinction. There is nothing
inspiring in having nostrils at the end of one's beak or laying big
eggs.
A flag is more than a brand. It is more than one of those sticky
labels you get at meetings that says "Hello, my name is ... New
Zealand". It can be a message.
I still think we should use this opportunity to send a marketing
message to the world about our beautiful country and a inspirational
reminders to ourselves.
South Africa changed its flag. It was totally new, but people in
South Africa and people the world over quickly got used to recognising
it as South Africa.
Even ex-South Africans living over here quickly adopted it. And it
has inspired a nickname, the rainbow nation, that is something for
that (previous apartheid-ruled) nation to celebrate. We don't need
to worry that if we don't use a kiwi or fern that foreigners won't
recognise us. I think many people will learn to recognise it pretty
quickly, especially if we have a koru twist somewhere. And some people
wouldn't recognise our flag even if we used the bird or 'white
feather'. (If we did use the bird they'ld probably think we were
Mauritius :-)
3. My response to a discussion of my proposed flag with a Maori leader and cultural advisor. The leader's comments were oral, but after consideration I wrote my responses down, and these responses follow.
My Reply:
"It was very helpful to see things from a different point of view, both because of the specific ideas you brought and because it challenged my own thinking, to think about my own presuppositions and to express my own ideas more clearly.
Your comments brought me back to the foundational motif of the design, which was the concept of Aotearoa. That was the primary reason for the narrow flat white band separating the land from sea or sky. I had written this concept at the bottom of my write-up, as the prominent final idea that the reader would be left with, but I have now re-emphasised this as the top idea. The other ideas were reflections of this basic motif.
I have thought hard about the idea of modifying the koru to be a motif for generations. The idea is attractive, but I think I will leave it for another designer, with more artistic skills, to try. (I need a computer to help me draw straight lines!) I was trying to keep things extremely simple. Therefore I thought of the curve at the end of the line as rather inspired by and honouring a Maori design rather than being a koru in the traditional sense.
I also was aware that some juvenile fern sprouts take more or less the form of a straight-line-with-a-curve-at-the-end, even though some are much more curved.
I realised when I was talking with you that, whereas I had become very comfortable with thinking of the white line as (symbolically) the line of humanity spreading throughout the earth and reaching Aotearoa at the end, that I hadn't actually said that in those terms. I have changed my write-up to emphasise that. In this symbolism, I was attempting to represent the generations, including the new generations of our young country expressed in the koru-type curve. However again my symbolism was neither Maori nor Pakeha, but an attempt to bridge the two.
I also appreciated your comment that Maori would have difficulty with my symbolising the treaty as a hook. Thinking afterwards I thought "hmmm... a fishhook can be painful", but that was not at all the concept I had in mind. I was thinking entirely of a ceremonial hook or object that fastened things together, perhaps an embrace or a buckle or a latch or a knot or a solder. Something to symbolise joining. I was also symbolising Maori, the people of Aotearoa, as having reached out to make a treaty with the people across the sea, and I thought it was valuable to have that concept expressed even in figurative terms in the flag, as a witness to the importance of this foundational act. Again it is new symbolism, really neither Maori nor Pakeha. If you can think of a better way to relate to this, I would really really love to hear it.
I also appreciated the comments about the stars being an important symbol to Maori. I have given the concept of navigation more prominance in my write-up.
Your final comment about "he tangata, he tangata, he tangata" was also challenging (the idea that the flag should primarily represent people rather than things). I really don't know what else to do here. Poetically, I can see the flag as representing at different times the environment or people or inspirational concepts. So people and ethnicity are one aspect. I think most flags go no further than a single conceptual idea - e.g. the Indonesian flag the merah-putih (red for courage, white for holiness) or the American flag (stars for current states, stripes for original states) or the Canadian flag (a common tree, outlined in traditional canadian red). So I have tried too hard to include a lot in a single design. "
4. Responses to Religious/Secularist perspectives
It is often commented (particularly by athiest/agnostic politicians) that New Zealand is a secular country, and they point to the growth in numbers claiming no religion on the Census. On the other hand
- the majority of New Zealanders still claim religious affiliation (mostly to Christian churches or beliefs)
- the history of this country and family history of most New Zealanders has a strong Christian influence
- Spiritual values continue to be extremely important to particular groups of New Zealanders including Maori, Pacific Islanders, and some european-origin and other overseas-born New Zealanders.
Balancing the views of non-religious folk, I must point out that some other New Zealanders have commented to me that they really want to retain the Union Jack or include a more explicit Cross on the flag to symbolise the Christian heritage of this country.
My perspective is that it is preferable if a flag does not enforce an undeniably secular symbol on New Zealanders, trampling the viewpoints of religious people: but also that a flag does not force an overtly religious symbolism on all people. I think my proposal provides adequate balance, by being able to be interpreted in an entirely secular way but also with scope for religious interpretation. For example, green is predominantly symbolic of the land, but it is noted that green is a favorite colour on muslim flags.
Some Christian (Biblical) perspectives are suggested in the link below. My point is that different New Zealanders will see things differently, but we are all part of the same country and should make room for each other's private perspectives as much as possible.
4. A newsgroup correspondent suggested that blue and green are a vexilogical (i.e. flag) cliche.
It is true that red, blue, yellow, green, white and black are the main flag colours. However the fact that black and white are unpopular (there are no national flags and only a couple of state flags from islamic nations, that I know of, that are black and white) does not mean that we should rush to adopt those colours. The fact is that blue, white and green are highly appropriate colours for New Zealand.
To explore the issue of cliche, I investigated which flags might be the most similar to my proposal. You can judge for yourself whether you think they are too similar by clicking on the link below.
6. Comments on black and white flags, e.g. the "stylised silver fern" of www.nzflag.com.
The "stylised silver fern" symbol is the flag for the campaign, but the creators of that web site state they do not expect that the "stylised silver fern" will necessarily become New Zealand's flag. Nonetheless some people endorse it as "just right for this country" so they are thinking of it as a contender. For example Lewis Holden, in his pro-republican site on the flag (link below) states "I don't see why New Zealand can't have a 'Sporting' flag, perhaps based on the Silver-Fern proposal of NZFlag.com".
I accept that some people really do like this flag, and so since some people are already thinking of it as symbolising New Zealand I don't want to dishonour it. I recognise it as a genuine attempt, as are many other proposed flags mentioned in the links below. However I do have some concerns which I will outline below.
In answer to Lewis Holden's comment, I would say that yes it is possible for New Zealand to have a 'sporting' flag, but why would we restrict ourselves to ONLY a 'sporting' flag? At the moment we get on quite well with a national flag that we display on general occasions and an additional sporting flag that we display at sports events.
We don't lose anything by having a national flag which is different to the sports flag.
Indeed we would be in good company: the Australians have the boxing kangaroo as a sports flag symbol, but kangaroo designs have been singularly unpopular for the national flag itself (see www.ausflag.com.au); the English have their rose and lion; the Scots have their thistle; the Americans have their eagle; the South Africans have their proteas and their springboks. In summary, we seem to lose very little by having a separate national flag and sports flag
One the other hand if we only use a sports flag then that forces a sporting symbol on a lot of New Zealanders who don't think sports (particularly rugby) really symbolises them or summarises who they are. From what I have read in newsgroups and heard in discussions, there is a sizeable number of New Zealanders who don't want a silver fern flag because of the sports connotation, and particularly don't want a black and white flag. You could say "tough" to them, but that turns on its head the common pro-change argument that says people want a flag that represents them, not one that doesn't.
Specifically on the stylised silver fern of nzflag.com, one concern about is that it does not look like a fern leaf! The leaf is more like a solid leaf. Some people describe it as a white feather, or like one of those quill pens used in the Harry Potter movies. To most people overseas I don't think it would represent a fern. It connects to a fern in our minds because we New Zealanders are already used to seeing the All Black fern or other ferns with a stylised shape. But I think you would have to look hard to find a natural fern leaf that looked that shape.
'Better by far to live or die, Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than to play a sanctimonious part with a priate head and a pirate heart'
Secondly several people have commented that a black and white flag looks, at first sight, like a pirate flag -as in the quote above from 'The Pirates of Penzance'! This is not the type of image association I want for our country. Don Aitkin, in the rec.heraldry newsgroup, commented further:
"It is mildy amusing that people who can no doubt specify in minute
detail the undesirable associations of the present flag should,
seemingly, be entirely ignorant of the historical associations of
black flags, namely anarchism, piracy and Islamic extremism." See Don's references in links below.
So personally I would go for something with colours more evocative of our natural beauty, such as green white and blue to represent our country to ourselves and to people overseas. The white to represent the "long white cloud" or our snow-capped mountains. I note that the NZ companies Air New Zealand, Lighting Direct, Fonterra, (especially Meadowfresh milk delivery) and Environment Services (to name four) use a blue-white-green livery. Television One News uses a green-white- blue strip at the bottom of its news reports. I mention these to illustrate how often these colours are used in New Zealand. Keeping your eyes open you may see others.
Thirdly the trouble with a fern is that it already has a meaning - either it means the All Blacks or a host of other sporting codes, or the Qualmark organisation, or the Progressive Party or United Future Party or a host of other organisations, each with their own slightly different version of the fern.
Our national flag will end up being yet another variant fern among a host of slightly different ferns, and the national flag one will probably not be the prettiest or most realistic one either.
If we adopt different colours for the flag - not black - then organisations can design ferns or kiwis etc. to pick up on the flag colours. But if we restrict ourselves to fern symbolism as the only icon of NZ, we are going to end up with even more unrealistic and probably more ugly ferns as people try to avoid copyright and trade restrictions. I would rather keep our list of icons (flag, fern, stars, kiwi, koru, map) wide.
Finally, if NZ adopted a modified all black flag as its official flag, then I also worry a little bit about having our national flag and identity tied so tightly to the ever-changing fortunes of sports teams. Its enough of a blow to the national emotions when the All Blacks lose (and I hate to say it but that happens fairly often) but to have that symbol as a loss for the country as a whole is a bit too much.
7. Willy Trolove (Anzac Day New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1500876&ObjectID=10122126 ) demonstrated that choosing a new flag that symbolizes just one aspect of New Zealand (be it sport, history, environment, or Maoritanga) will not satisfy many New Zealanders.
I suggest this is because none of us wants to feel unrepresented by a flag, yet we are all different and like different things about this country. Forcing allegiance to a single symbol with just one meaning is like calling everyone “Trevor”. It is would be trying to impose uniformity upon a people who like their diversity and don’t like being told what to do.
I suggest two ways out of the uniformity bind. First we accept that different people can love New Zealand for different reasons, and it’s OK if more than one reason is represented on a flag. It’s like a family: I love my wife one way, our children love her another, her (late) parents loved her another, and her siblings love her another way still. I am not diminished by the fact that other people love my wife differently to the way I do. In fact my appreciation of her is enriched by the diversity of their love. In the same way one part of a flag design could remind me of an aspect of New Zealand that I particularly appreciate. Another part could, say, be particularly meaningful to Maori – and I don’t need to feel left out just because I don’t have any Maori blood. Their love of the country can enrich my appreciation of it. Other parts of the design can particularly appeal to environmentalists, to Asians, to history lovers, and so on.
Of course if we tried to represent everyone by a separate symbol then the flag would be exceedingly complicated. But the second way forward is to liberate our minds from the idea that a symbol has to mean just one thing. Rather, a symbol can be a reminder of different things to different people. That’s OK too, so long as those things are reminders of the same country we all love. For example a symbol like a koru would remind many people particularly of Maori culture. Other people would feel left out by that meaning. However they can think about the shape as part of a fern (native bush) and representing youth and growth and unfurling possibilities. So long as we don’t emphasize one interpretation to the exclusion of other people’s views, then we can live with each other’s views, just as one lives with the diversity one finds in any large family. This way the flag as a whole becomes a symbol which is bigger than its parts. It is not uniformity, but a symbol of diversity-within-unity: the unity of a multifaceted love for this country. I suggest this is what we want.
How could we design a flag like this? I am not a trained designer, but here is one suggestion that I call the New Zealand Heritage Flag. It is a simple design, and yet if we wanted to teach children about citizenship, then I would suggest there are enough ideas here to give a school Principal something to talk about for a dozen school assemblies.
Links
Back to Flag Homepage
Christian Perspectives on the Heritage Koru Flag
Link to Lewis Holden's page
Some Flags Closest to the Heritage Koru Flag
Something odd in the Coat of Arms
Reasons for my flag (and others!)
Links to other people's proposals for new flags
Link to Willy Trolove's flag article
The black flag and anarchism (reference from Don Aitkin)
The black flag of Islamic extremists (reference from Don Aitkin)
