Having the New Zealand flag flying from its roof - and portraits of the Queen on the lounge wall - was not cool. It was embarrassing. The flag was the symbol of conservatism and tradition to which children of the 60s and 70s were not endeared.
It was a symbol of war. While my attitude and respect for soldiers has decidedly improved over the years, I cannot love my flag and I relish the chance for a referendum on it.
Whether that is a common experience may become clear when the debate cranks up.
With the list of the final 40 just published, the debate has barely begun, apart from the objections by Opposition parties - two of which appear to be opposing the review for opposition's sake.
Quite what Labour and the Greens will do when the debate gains momentum will present a conundrum for them. They cannot continue to attack the referendum process without indirectly attacking New Zealanders who are interested in it and want to be part of it.
They have ignored a basic principle in politics as in life: to thine own self be true, or the voters will see right through you.
It was understandable for the parties to rail against the Government asset sales programme last term - even though National won a mandate for it - because it was against Labour and Green policy.
But to rail against a review of the New Zealand flag - which National also promised at the last election - when it echoes your own party's policy is simply dishonest and erodes trust in a party.
How can you trust a party that objects to its own policy?
Labour in particular has made a series of misjudgments over its positioning.
By describing it simply as a "vanity project" of Prime Minister John Key, Labour belittles those who don't care what John Key thinks but who would like a say in what the flag should be.
Labour is creating a wedge issue among its own supporters, many of whom want a change.
Labour has assumed that low turnout to public meetings on the flag means that no one cares.
Conversely, it could mean that there is not wide resistance to it.
Like many such events in life - elections, sports contests, commemorations - interest always grows.
The low turnout to public meetings on the flag was no surprise. There may even be a low turnout to the first postal referendum (November 20 to December 11) to choose the best alternative from four final flags.
But the interest in the referendum that really counts, the one from March 3 to 24, will be intense.
That is when the present flag will be put up against a single alternative.
I'll bet the turnout for that vote will be as high as a general election.
Labour also argues there should have been a referendum first to see whether voters wanted change before spending the money on the process.
But you wouldn't expect to agree to a free house-paint without knowing what colour it was going to be.
And as the officials designing the process pointed out, "asking people to vote without seeing what these alternative designs look like would risk the legitimacy of the referendum process".
Supposing Labour had its way and the answer were yes, you would then be looking at two more referendums to give voters a clear choice between the present one and a single alternative.
Looking around for further excuses, Labour says it's not the right time to discuss the flag; there are too many other issues to worry about.
They might have a point if social welfare benefits were being cut instead of increased, or if ACC levies were being increased instead of cut, but they are not.
Now is as good a time as any and $26 million is not much to spend for a new flag that might be around for a further 100 years.
Labour leader Andrew Little this week said he would not vote in the referendum.
And, more absurdly, the party's flag spokesman, Trevor Mallard, said that in November's preferential vote he would rank the flag he thought was best the last and the flag he disliked the most the best.
That way, if everyone were as clever as Trevor, the present flag would be pitted against the most horrible one in March, the present flag would stay and John Key could be accused of having wasted time and money.
Even if the old flag is kept, engaging the public in debate and the ultimate decision is above criticism in my view.
The Namibian flag was chosen by a committee in 1990 and the colours were the same as Swapo, the liberation group.
As flags go, the Namibian flag is heavy on formal symbolism. A red diagonal stripe represents the heroism of the people, a blue triangle represents the sky and ocean, a green triangle represents the environment, white borders represent peace and unity and the yellow sun represents life and energy.
There are similarly symbolic emblems among the listed 40. I suspect Kiwis will be more content to have a flag that just feels like "home".
