KEY POINTS:
What an unnecessary obsession with the bureaucratic small print. If Transit New Zealand sticks with the line that government policy prevents the flying of the Maori flag over the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day, then it's time to change the rules. It's such a simple - and
harmless - decision, it's difficult to see why it couldn't be done today.
If it's acceptable to fly the flags of such remote and democratically challenged countries as Albania and Lebanon atop the bridge to mark their national days, then how can flying the de facto Maori flag alongside the New Zealand ensign on Waitangi Day be deemed inappropriate?
Transit officials and the Minister of Maori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, say they will consider the issue, but only after tomorrow's commemorations. No doubt they're put out that the proponents left their request to the last minute - no doubt to extract what political embarrassment they could from the request. The clever response would have been to defuse the stunt by saying yes, automatically nipping in the bud an unnecessary round of pre-Waitangi Day bloodletting.
Instead, the authorities stood on ceremony, giving the wily applicants a perfect grandstand on which to wail and gnash their teeth.
If I were in charge, I'd go further. I'd hijack the Maori tino rangatiratanga flag as our new national flag and fly it over the bridge - and elsewhere - permanently, posting the borrowed British naval ensign we've made do with for too long back to the admirals in Whitehall.
Compared with our present flag, which only officially became the national flag with the passage of the Flags Act 1953, the Maori flag breathes life and action and a sense of place. Which was what it was meant to do when designed by Hiraina Marsden, Jan Smith and Linda Munn in 1990 as the winning entry in a Maori flag design contest.
The black and red halves represent the Maori creation myth with a central white koru shape representing the unfolding of new life, renewal and hope for the future. It looks spectacular in full flight and alongside the drab old colonial relic of a national flag we currently put up with, it's no contest.
Mind you, having already pinched most of their land, the Maori might be a bit wary of a Pakeha raid on their flag as well. But I come in peace. Honest. Like the haka, I can see New Zealanders of all shades and ancestry rallying around this unique Kiwi symbol. One that we - and the rest of the world - would be quick to accept as uniquely ours.
As to Transit's existing harbour bridge flag policy, I've never really warmed to the sight of foreign flags fluttering from the ramparts. It's not just the frustration of trying to guess which Ruritania is celebrating its birthday that particular day, it's also the implication we endorse the policies of the country in question.
And when you think what the United States is doing in Iraq (sorry, Winston) for instance, I'm glad I didn't have to cross over last July 4.
At the risk of comprising my anti-billboard tendencies, I'd pack up all those foreign flags and use the spare flag pole to celebrate our Aucklandness. I'm sure if Wellington had a harbour bridge, the "absolutely, positively, Wellington" pennant would be fluttering high on significant days.
Why not a large flag celebrating the City of Sails and another to remind us of the region's volcanic heritage? And where was Auckland City's proud flag on anniversary day? Next month we'll be celebrating AK07, the Auckland Festival. What better way to summon and unite locals and visitors alike than a giant festival flag signalling party time.
It's not as though we don't have plenty to celebrate. During the year we could use the giant flag pole as sort of visual town crier. During the year, Eden Park and North Harbour Stadium, for example, could signal international test matches, and the Auckland Theatre Company and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra could alert the city the day of a new performance.
Better surely for Aucklanders to be reminded of all the exciting opportunities available to them than to leave the bridge mystified and frustrated by the origins of yet one more obscure ensign.
