Flag: Our ultimate national symbol

This is our chance to be inclusive with a flag that truly represents New Zealand...

OUR flag design process, which concluded this week, has its detractors and supporters, but I'm sure all can be in agreement on one thing - a flag is the ultimate symbol, and care needs to taken with the choice.

This comes just as another debate is surfacing over the Confederate "rebel" flag from the American Civil War.

For me, it was simply the flag that decorated the roof of the General Lee hot rod in The Dukes of Hazard, but now it has become mired as a symbol of racial hatred against African-Americans.

Dylann Roof used it as an expression of white supremacy before being charged with nine counts of murder against black churchgoers in South Carolina.

Now I see a Porirua store, which offered the flag for sale, has removed it from its shelves.

It is unfortunate that the Confederate flag can't help but be a symbol of a culture that once backed slavery and supremacy over blacks.

It also represents pride, civilisation, good conduct and industry for the southern states, but unfortunately, the winning side gets to make the rules.

In New Zealand, certain flags have become metaphors for a struggle, notably the Tino Rangatiratanga flag and the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, and it makes me feel uneasy when symbols of history, of a past time, resurface for a cause.

However, they represent promises that weren't kept and a unity that didn't really occur properly.

I've always been a supporter of the flag design process, despite the cost, because I see it as a chance to shift our symbology - our national flag - towards real unity. It's why I'm hoping one of the four designs will involve a koru or another symbol of Maoritanga.

This is our chance to be inclusive with a flag that truly represents New Zealand, almost in the manner the Union Jack represents several cultures.

This cost is a bit on the nose, but nothing this important comes cheaply. It isn't just a design.

It's us, who we all are, and I for one would prefer it to be the only one raised, rather than some disparate cultural reminders of what we've done wrong as a nation.