Editorial: New flag saga just may not fly at all

Katie Holland says the Red Peak is the only one whose design and significance may tempt her to vote for change.

This whole flag malarkey is turning into a bit of a debacle, isn't it?

The flag roadshow was a bit of a fizzer, with only a handful of people turning out to some gatherings.

Yes, a lot of designs were submitted, but the four chosen were met with a lukewarm response.

Then, seemingly from nowhere, came the Red Peak. Thanks to the power of social media, calls for it to be added to the shortlist spread.

But no, we were told, it was definitely too late for it to become a contender.

Shame, I thought. Having said a couple of months ago I was "on the fence" about whether we should change at all, the Red Peak was the only one whose design and significance may have tempted me to vote for change.

But hold on. On Wednesday we got confirmation it will become the fifth contender, as the Government bowed to public pressure and changed the law.

So it should have, as stubbornly refusing to do so would only have led to allegations later that it wasn't a fair referendum.

Somewhere in there was another twist when we were told the Red Peak - or Wa Kainga to give it its official name - is strikingly similar to an American engineering company's logo. Some thought that mattered. I'm not too bothered.

So now here we are. In November we will choose from among the five possible options - that's assuming Facebookers don't discover another rejected design they like and persuade John Key to make it six.

What will happen between now and the final referendum is anyone's guess, but something tells me there's bound to be more twists and turns in this saga.

It's drama that could all be for nothing come March, when we are asked whether we want to change the flag at all (which perhaps should have been the first question).

Even with Red Peak in the running, I suspect the answer could be a very Kiwi: "Yeah, nah. Let's flag the whole idea."