Minnesota officially raises new state flag, seal

Alex Derosier, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
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Minnesota officially raises new state flag, seal

A new state flag rose over the Minnesota Capitol at dawn Saturday, May 11, marking its official adoption after a decades-long push to change the state’s emblems.

The new design, inspired by one of more than a thousand public submissions considered by a state panel last year, replaces the state’s old flag, which has existed in some form for more than 130 years.

It’s considerably simpler than the now-retired state flag, which featured the state’s old seal on a blue background and long attracted criticism for its resemblance to other state flags — and forwhat some said was its glorification of the displacement of Native Americans by European settlers.

The new flag has an eight-pointed white star in a dark blue abstract shape of Minnesota on the left and a field of light blue on the right, evoking imagery of the state’s waters, as well as the state motto: L’Étoile du Nord, French for “Star of the North.” It was inspired by a submission from 24-year-old Luverne resident Andrew Prekke.

A state panel chose the flag last year, but the adoption date of May 11 coincides with Statehood Day — this year marking 166 years since Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. State.

Old state flags that came down from above the Capitol are headed to the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation.

Why the change?

Minnesota’s old flag resembles that of more than 20 states and has been described by critics as a “state seal on a bedsheet.” Flag scholars and enthusiasts, sometimes known as vexillologists, say the design is overly complicated.

Other critics say the seal is offensive to the state’s Dakota and Ojibwe tribes because it depicts a Native American riding off into the sunset while a white settler plows his field with his rifle leaning on a nearby stump.

The imagery is based on a poem by Mary Eastman, the wife of seal designer Seth Eastman, that says “the white man claims” the lands that are now Minnesota.

The State Emblems Redesign Commission also changed Minnesota’s seal, which the state adopted Saturday in addition to the flag.

The new design centers around a loon, Minnesota’s state bird, and includes the Dakota language phrase “Mni Sota Makoce,” meaning “Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds,” the origin of Minnesota’s name.

Conservative opposition

The new design hasn’t been without its critics, and Minnesota Republicans have attempted to drive the new flag as a political issue. In January the state Republican Party launched a website with a petition to reject the new flag, saying it erases state history.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislators, who control the Senate and House, have not let any flag-challenging legislation move forward.

That didn’t stop House Republicans from making a largely symbolic last-ditch effort Thursday to put the question of new symbols to voters.

Rep. Bjorn Olson, R-Fairmont, attempted to introduce a measure on the House floor that would put the symbols up to a constitutional referendum — something Secretary of State Steve Simon, a DFLer, said he doubts would hold up even if the Senate and House approved such a measure. The measure failed on party lines.

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