Kiwis are articulating their idea of what nationalism means and examining the shifting frontiers of our country's realm, says Mark Story.
A good debate refines society, New Zealand poet Brian Turner once told me.
Concerning the concurrent flag and amalgamation debates, I'd suggest he's right and wrong respectively.
The Flag Consideration Panel (FCP) and its final four flags have copped a fair towelling. They've been described variously as too "aunty", too
sporty, too British, not British enough, too flippant, too formal, too floral and my favourite, too "flaggy".
Undoubtedly the 12-strong panel must envy those whose job it was in 1902 to come up with a (our incumbent) flag (incidentally our third national flag). In the early 1900s the Shaky Isles was all about Empire; the then version of the panel had a simple, enviable brief.
Today's task is more complex. There are infinitely more strands to our notion of nationhood. Postmodern theory hasn't helped of course, whereby all such notions are considered arbitrary.
