19 March
Well, thank god for that!
Much as I dislike our flag, with its crazy similarity to Australia and the anachronistic Union Jack in the corner, anything is better than the public favourite of a black flag with a silver fern, a la the All Blacks' jerseys. I am therefore greatly relieved that a majority of people wish to retain our current flag.
At least the Union Jack speaks to our origins as a nation and our history, the vast majority of which is based around jolly olde England. What does the silver fern on black show?
Sports.
While I agree that NZ has a great record at some sports, sport is utterly irrelevant in geopolitics and culture in general. I'd far rather be wrongly known as a prisoner of Mother England than a boofhead whose only visible presence is on a sports field.
Copyright © Alan Charman