Flag debate divides residents

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said New Zealand was growing up. Photo / File

Debate around the possibility of a new flag has divided Western Bay residents.

Tauranga RSA president Dick Frew said the flag should remain the same out of respect for the men who fought and were buried under it.

"There has been a lot of good men buried under that flag. I've helped bury people under that flag," he told the Bay of Plenty Times. "I wouldn't like to see it changed."

Mr Frew said the idea of a silver fern on the flag could cause confusion amongst other countries. "They are going to say, 'What's that? It looks like a fish bone or a feather'," he said.

Director of Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust Tommy "Kapai" Wilson said the flag needed to better reflect the country but conceded the timing of the debate was not ideal with the centenary of the start of World War I being commemorated this year.

"I think we should have some sort of long white cloud with a silver lining represented by an artistic sort of silver fern," he said.

"We should use the stories behind the names of the places."

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said New Zealand was growing up and moving forward and agreed it may be time to create a flag which better represented that. "I'd be happy for the country to have a conversation about what the flag should look like one that represents us as a nation rather than being descended from Britain," he said.

Mr Crosby said he understood the flag was important to some who had family and friends buried under it but believed the past could be somehow incorporated into a new design. "It's not about the past, it's more about the future."

The black and silver fern design favoured by Prime Minister John Key was an option Mr Crosby said he would be comfortable with.

Former councillor Murray Guy also supported the idea of a silver fern but did not rule out some link to the current design.

Street View: What do you think of changing the New Zealand flag?

"I'm okay with that, I'd like to see it as the Silver Fern."
- Karen Wharewera, 57, Avenues

"It's a good idea, it's too confusing with the Australian flag. But what they'll come up with is a different issue."
- Peter Pettigrew, 80, Omokoroa

"'I don't agree with that idea. Unless there's a good enough reason to change it, I don't see the point in spending the money for it."
- Tania Browne, 40, Kaimais

"Leave it as it is, that's what it's been for years and that's how the world knows us. If it's not broken, don't fix it."
- Gill Blade, 61,Pyes Pa

"I'm easy, I quite like it as it is. I like the Silver Fern but I don't like the black flag, it reminds me of death."
- Betty Marriott, 60s, Otumoetai