To Scrap or not to Scrap

The New Zealand Herald has called for the country’s 108-year-old-flag to be scrapped. Under the banner headline “It’s time for a change”, The New Zealand Herald, the country’s largest circulating daily newspaper, devoted almost its entire front page to the issue. In an editorial published on the eve of Waitangi Day, the Herald said the flag “harks back to a time when maps of the world had huge slabs of British Empire red on them. But it says little else. Worst of all, it is nondescript. The flags of more than 20 countries and territories carry the Union Jack in their left corner.” TheHerald called for a panel to be set up to commission alternative designs and for public submissions to be considered by a select committee of parliament. Ideally, the paper said, a new design would be adopted in time for the Rugby World Cup, which New Zealand is hosting in 2011.