In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association conducted a survey to rate the state and provincial flags of the United States and Canada, and Minnesota’s did not finish last.
It finished sixth from last.
Opinions about the flag have not improved. As such, by next May it will be lowered for the last time and replaced by a new banner designed by a 13-member commission created to approve a new flag and a new “Great Seal of the State of Minnesota.”
“It’s not an effective flag. It’s not popular. A lot of people don’t know we have a flag,” said Lee Herold who owns Herold Flags in Rochester. “That’s not a good situation when you live in a state and you don’t even know what your own state flag looks like.”
Minnesota’s flag falls into the grouping that populates the bottom of most rankings — state seals plopped into the middle of a solid background.
Others know exactly what it looks like and like it even less. The seal includes many images, but the central theme is of a farmer tilling a field with a Native American on horseback riding in the distance. While the pre-statehood-designed seal and flag might be subject to interpretation, a poem written by the wife of the designer says this about the image: “We claim his noble heritage/And Minnesota’s land/Must pass with all its untold wealth/To the white man’s grasping hand.”
The flag is not displayed by many tribal nations in the state, said Kevin Jensvold, the chair of the Upper Sioux Community.
“The flag is problematic, and I lay it out there as a simple truth so it can be seen from eyes that are different from most of the immigrants,” he told the House State Government Committee in February.
[image_credit]REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst[/image_credit][image_caption]Minnesota state flag[/image_caption]
[image_caption]State Rep. Mike Freiberg[/image_caption]
“I don’t expect that will happen,” Freiberg said in the closing days of the 2023 session.
Herold has been a student of flags ever since the state of Minnesota adopted the current design in 1957. He didn’t like it then and expected it to be replaced soon. It wasn’t, except for a slight change in 1983.
Vexillologists mostly agree on what makes for an effective flag — keep it simple, use meaningful symbolism, use two or three basic colors, no lettering or seals and “be distinctive or be related.” That is “avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.”
Minnesota breaks all the rules, Herold said.
“In the Minnesota flag there are three dates, there’s the state tree, the state flower, there’s a motto, there’s a scene with the river and St. Anthony falls, there’s a farmer, there’s an Indian. You can’t remember them all,” he said. “A flag is moving so it has to be very simple, very direct and have one or two symbols and be very distinctive.”
Herold has another rule of thumb: Flags should be simple enough that people could make them at home, generous for someone who sells them for a living.
Other states have changed their flags recently. Utah is already fighting over its just unveiled replacement, but Mississippi, which replaced a flag reminiscent of the Confederate flag with a new version, saw 73% of voters support one featuring the magnolia flower.
[image_caption]State Rep. Kurt Daudt[/image_caption]
“We haven’t seen the product. We won’t see the product until 2024, and then it will just happen,” the Crown Republican said. “It will become the state flag without legislative approval. That is wrong.”
Freiberg said he had confidence in a citizen commission.
“It’s a well-crafted commission that, I think, will come up with a great flag design and a great seal design,” he said.
The makeup of the commission, which will be appointed by Aug. 1, is this:
- Three members of the public appointed by Gov. Tim Walz
- One appointee of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage
- One appointee of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs
- One appointee of the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans
- Two appointees by the Indian Affairs Council with one representing the Dakota community and one representing the Ojibwe community
- Someone representing the secretary of state, the state historical society, the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board, the Minnesota Arts Board and Explore Minnesota Tourism
- Four members of the Legislature from the GOP and DFL caucuses of both the House and Senate who would sit on the commission but would not have voting power
There is no budget for design experts but the commission can accept volunteer help. It must solicit public comments and its meetings are subject to open public meetings laws. Seven votes are required to approve a new flag and seal.
The directions from the Legislature are brief but still complex. “The designs must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota’s shared history, resources and diverse cultural communities,” the law says. “Symbols, emblems, or likenesses that represent only a single community or person, regardless of whether real or stylized, may not be included in a design.”
While the commission could decide to keep the current flag and seal, it is unlikely that it would or that retaining what is in place would meet the criteria in the law. That also suggests that while the current flag and seal are similar — though the flag is even more cluttered than the seal — there will be significant differences between the two come next May.
The new flag movement has led to a variety of proposed replacements.
Freiberg often wears a lapel pin depicting what is called the North Star Flag that was designed in 1989 by the Rev. William Becker, the pastor of Saint Columbanus Catholic Church in Blooming Prairie, with involvement from Herold and others. It has just a few colors — blue above and green below a rippling white stripe. It has one symbol — the star that appears in the upper left corner. Freiberg said he would be fine if that was the flag chosen by the commission.
[image_caption]The North Star Flag was designed in 1989 by the Rev. William Becker.[/image_caption]
But Freiberg said his opinions might not be helpful.
“I’m color blind,” he said.
Utah’s new flag is good. Not sure what the fuss is about over there.
The current flag is a bad flag but “designed by a 13-member commission” sure sounds how we will end up with one that is even worse
not sure it can get worse, but otherwise agree with this bloated committee approach.
I saw a design that I really like in a Twin Cities tech group. (I do not know the author and am in know way affiliated with him.)
https://brandonhundt.com/the-latest-design-for-a-new-minnesota-flag-is-inspired-by-letoile-du-nord/
Yes! This flag is perfect: simple, conveys the Etoile du Nord motto perfectly, and singular. Personally I find Becker’s north star flag both boring and suspiciously close to the Duluth city flag.
And I second all the complaints about a committee deciding this without some sort of final approval by our legislators (or why not a popular vote?). I want this to be done right but I worry they’re going to choose either the blandest option they can find with or one so PC as to be laughable. I also think it’s offensive the committee guarantees every race a vote except whites – or are they assuming all the race neutral seats will be white people?
Yes; Brandon Hundt’s design is gorgeous! I hope that he submits it to the new committee. It’s perfect 😍
Just looked at the 50 state flags. Boring! Why do we need to have a simple color scheme. Why not a thing of beauty? I would prefer to allow young artists to come up with different concepts. Sort of like how the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial transformed how we look at memorials.
An example is a moving work by Adam Turman of a canoe on a northern lake. It shows how we live harmoniously with nature, and that access to nature is not just available for the wealthy but for all.
https://www.adamturman.com/products/boundary-waters-canoe-area
Now shrink that image down to the size of a lapel pin. Would you even be able to identify that blob of color? No. That’s why it fails as a flag. A good flag is not a painting
Especially for persons with disability, ya know, hiking those mile long portages and paddling for miles….
It has been said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Sure sounds like what our idiot legislators have come up with here. If my memory serves me, Minnesota was made a state by my grandparents generation, all legal immigrants .. These homesteaders, farmers, fishermen, miners and lumberjacks consisted of Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Poles, Italians to name a few citizens who came here to work and make a life for themselves and their families. If anything, I would question why meddle with a flag that is serving it’s purpose and there is NO need for a change. Those who were the founders should be honored by the flag, it’s not about the government placement of alleged refugees..
Hate to break it to ya Ed, but if those grandparents arrived in this country prior to 1919 they were not legal immigrants, just immigrants, but your confusion is understandable.
“Illegal” is a reactionary term. Many of Minnesota’s earliest immigrants were INVITED.
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/homestead-act#:~:text=The%20Homestead%20Act%2C%20enacted%20during,plot%20by%20cultivating%20the%20land.
“… To help develop the American West and spur economic growth, Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided 160 acres of federal land to anyone who agreed to farm the land. The act distributed millions of acres of western land to individual settlers.”
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act#:~:text=The%20Civil%20War%20removed%20the,file%20for%20deed%20of%20title.
“The Civil War removed the slavery issue because the Southern states had seceded from the Union. So finally, in 1862, the Homestead Act was passed and signed into law. The new law established a three-fold homestead acquisition process: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title.”
I believe Mr. Nelson was referring to the fact that, before 1919, the only restrictions on immigration to the United States were in the Chinese Exclusion Act. All the sanctimonious battalogia about how “MY ancestors came here legally” is meaningless because, unless they were Chinese, it was most likely legally impossible for those saintly ancestors to have entered the country otherwise than legally.
Your lack of respect for your mark is reprehensible. Despite the poem by the current flag’s chauvinist wife, I like the current flag and I have known about it since I was in grade school. I am 61-years old and the only racial group who has not attacked me near University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus have been the local Native Americans, who have been very pleasant.
As a student of history, including Native American communities and wars, I see that chaos and hostilities are part of how people often react to one another when they first come together. Trying to cancel that culture and believe that we are always living in a “kumbaya society,” is ridiculous. The current flag can be discussed in required classes for children and be used to start a conversation on the importance of cooperation and respect for diversity.
Have respect for your elders.
I agree 100%!!! Africans, Latinos, Asians, etc. did not originally settle here so their history in forming this state is irrelevant to what the MN flag should represent. It seems the “commission” is leaving out descendants of the people that originally settled in this state and those that already lived here, the Native Americans…the governor should have NOTHING to do with the appointment of the commission. In fact, it should be the legislature who agrees upon the appointments so there is equal representation around the entire state on the commission. I often wonder why there is so much “fixin’ what ain’t broke” in this state…what is up with that? I guess actual history is offensive to some people…the truth is fact…quit trying to subvert history.
Today is a big day in Minnesota history. This is the first day I have ever agreed with Rep. Kurt Daudt about anything. He asks how we can accept a flag
That no one has seen.
The problem with a committee designing anything is that it usually looks like a committee designed it, and every faction needs to see their own pets represented.
But this committee could make a great impact by listening to the advice freely offered in this article: keep it simple, use strong symbols, and make sure the flag sends a message instantly to the public eye.
The star is a strong symbol for our state, and the design proposed in this article would be an excellent choice.
Just pick the North Star flag and….
Move on…
I’m a very proud, 4th generation Minnesotan, a progressive Dem, and I am really —– off about developing a new flag and the process for doing it.
When you look over the Commission membership, where are the Germans, the Scandinavians , the Irish, the Eastern Europeans, the people who built this great state represented? Native Americans didn’t build this state. African Americans didn’t build this state. This State, and all the good thinks it represents, all the strong institutions, the good economy that make it a place where so many minorities want to live, are a result of the often backbreaking work the Germans, the Scandinavians, the Irish and the Eastern Europeans
did in the mines, the factories and the forests and on the farms for 170 years. This Commission looks like they didn’t even exist or do all of that.
Keep Minnesota symbolism white?
I’m not a gatekeeper, but I think your comment calls into doubt your “progressive Democrat” credentials.
This take is unadulterated white supremecy. The europeans who came here did so to take free land that was aquired through genocide. That includes all of the natural rescources that those new European immagrants extracted (typically at great environmental expense) to generate the wealth. That stolen wealth and natural advantages that came with a location at the top of the Mississippi and the end of the great lakes is what created the environment that attracted the capitalists that generated pay to attract new immigrants.
While blacks were not a significant part of the population early in our state’s history (though Dred Scott was married at Fort Snelling and his time here was critical in his unsuccesful supreme court case) there was significant migrantion here after the Civil War. Depite you completely discounting their contribution they provided the low wage labor that allowed the previous white immigrants to increase their profits and income. All while black folks were legally discriminated against regarding where they could live, what jobs they could hold and what services they could access.
Saying Native Americans and African Americans didn’t build this state is no different than saying they didn’t build this country. You do so simply to artificially elevate white people while standing on the graves and backs the people that were oppresssed. It is an echo of the slave plantation owner claiming that they are the ones who produced the corn, cotton and tobacco.
Can we leave ethnicity out of the discussion and off the flag. It just guarantees trouble. We should not be glorifying or denigrating any group.
So you would like to ignore the actual history while others relate a complete fantasy written to place themselves as heroes? I am not saying the new flag needs to make genocide the central theme, but the idea that the state’s history shouldn’t be allowed while designing a new one simply reinforces the white supremacist lie told by Ken.
It certainly is a fascinating (and horrifying) window into how people think. Hard to be the ones to “build” anything when you were basically the victims of an apocalyptic plague that wiped out 90% of your population. The more recent archeological work being done indicates that native Americans modified their environment significantly more than previously thought, but because they didn’t have the kind of cities that Europe had, and because the plagues struck a couple of hundred years before Europeans really got into the interior of the continent, a lot of their modifications were either missed or thought to just be how the new world forests were, abundant with forgeable foods and clear of fallen trees and underbrush. I’ve even seen it said that the great plains were kept at the extent they were at by native burn offs and cutting that prevented the slow takeover of the forests because the plains offered more and better game to hunt. The book “1491” by Charles Mann is an excellent read on the subject.
I have read it, and it is eye-opening. The one thing that struck me most wasn’t simply in the details the book covered. It was the degree to which how much the idea that the degree to which a group of people had European-style structures and systems still determines how much value we assign to that group of people. It is a sickness that still impacts how lots of people think to one degree or another.
It’s part and parcel of the mindset that things only have value if they’re being consumed and exploited for profit. We see it here every time an article about mining is published and the usual suspects come out to tell us that the boundary waters and lake superior need to be sacrificed on the alter of short term profit for a swiss owned mining corporation and maybe 20 years of wages for as small a workforce as the corp can manage.
Amen to that, Ken! You nailed it.
Who can represent the Europeans?
The 3 appointments by the governor, the appointments by the SOS, MHS, the Capitol Arch. Board, Explore Minnesota, and the Arts Board.
The North Stars were sold 30 years ago to TX. We are MN, a diverse beautiful land of 10,000 lakes. Please come up with a better, fitting, proud design than what’s been suggested by the owner of the flag company. It’s a silly comment to say no one knows we have a flag! Of course everyone knows we have a flag! We are MN proud & strong! Show that with a better design than a star and wavy lines 🙁
The North Stars were named after Minnesota being L’etoile du Nord, The Star of the North, so the fact that Dallas now has ‘The Stars’, alluding to The Lone Star, does not preclude Minnesota from remaining The North Star State.
I can’t imagine that I would like a state flag for Minnesota that doesn’t have a representation of the North Star. It seems ludicrous.
Yeah! Something strong and proud like … maybe a viking horn. Perhaps it could be purple and gold. Those are strong colors. 😉
The committee has an impossible task ahead of them. Not enough time and no budget. And the size of the committee itself is an issue.
The first thing the legislature needs to do when the next session starts is to give the committee more time and a budget.
… and personally I think the star and squiggle “north star” flag option is mediocre at best.
I came here from Colorado, and Colorado’s flag is my model for an effective, memorable state flag – to the degree that ANY state flag can be either effective or memorable. The current flag is just ugly, and representative of the 19th century from whence it came. The “North Star” flag isn’t my favorite, but it’s far better than what we must currently endure, and for what little it’s worth, I very much like the “Snowflake” flag from the link Erik Granse provided. Finally, I have to agree with the critics who are skeptical of the “committee” approach to flag design – design by a committee is almost always dull and uninspiring, so as not to offend any committee members’ sensibilities.
In Minnesota, there are four federally recognized Dakota tribal oyate (nations): the Shakopee Mdewakanton, Prairie Island Indian Community, Upper Sioux Community, and the Lower Sioux Indian Community. And they are not of like minds. So which tribe gets represented, eh? /s
The name Dakota, Lakota, or Nakota means “friendly people.” This is what the three groups called themselves. French priests called them the “Sioux.” This name came from another Indian tribe. It meant “snake” or “enemy.” This name stuck. Most European explorers and traders called them the Sioux. So did most South Dakota settlers. Today we use all these names.
The Sioux Nation is made up of seven major tribes, or “council fires.” They speak three different forms of the same language. These are known as dialects. Those who speak the Dakota dialect are sometimes called the Santee. This group includes the Wahpeton, Sisseton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpekute tribes. Many now live in northeastern and central South Dakota and eastern Minnesota.
Tribes speaking the Nakota dialect are the Yankton and Yanktonnais tribes. Many now live in southeastern and north-central South Dakota.
The Teton tribe speaks the Lakota dialect. There are seven large groups of Lakota speakers, or Lakotas. They are the Oglala, Brule (Sicangu), Two Kettle (Oohenunpa), Sans Arc (Itazipco), Blackfeet (Sihasapa), Hunkpapa, and Minneconjou. Many now live in central and western South Dakota and southwestern North Dakota.
https://sd4history.sd.gov/Unit1/dialect.htm#:~:text=The%20name%20Dakota%2C%20Lakota%2C%20or,traders%20called%20them%20the%20Sioux.
Yes to changing the flag but I would be very disappointed if they pick Becker’s “Northstar” flag. It has served its purpose as a starting point for the conversation, and that’s something to be proud of, but it is not good enough to be our new state flag.
I don’t understand why the vexillologist approved flags like the North Star flag and the snowflake one look like they were created in powerpoint. hopefully the flag committee includes at least one design professional but I have my doubts that it will
I had to go deep in the comments to find someone who finally stated the obvious. Thank you.
The commission as described has actually very little to do with the professional and artistic work of design.
By all means listen to the groups. But make sure you have someone who has the highly developed skill of listening to everyone and producing something visual that is excellent.
Otherwise, you risk replacing the kitchen sink flag with bland mediocrity.
I really hope it has a strong representation of the severe weather extremities in Minnesota . More and more tired advertisements to decieve people into coming up here to live is getting embarrassing.A flag with snowfall in it for sure.
Reverse the blue and green coloring in the North Star Flag, and it looks like blue water with a green forest above it. As is, the North Star Flag looks like a pea soup lake with a blue sky above it.
Also for the first time I agree with Daudt- think designs should be more public. The committee make up is kind of bizarre and it is a huge committee so my expectations are poor already. If a new flag is made, it needs to be simple and represent Minnesota values & culture if at all possible. The choice of which tribe represents American Indians in MN leads us to wonder about their influence on MN politics. It is my understanding MN laws do not apply on American Indian reservations (only federal) so their influence on a state flag seems disingenuous. On a federal flag I can see it.
Use the North Star flag, but reverse the colors, make the star white and ditch the white in the middle-
Aurora above, water below, Polaris in the sky.
Nothing to do with humans at all.
Perfect.
A lot of people don’t know the flags of many states.
The way it looks, our current flag will remain for a long time while everyone’s feeling get sorted out 🙂
Had a nice chuckle today when a talking head described the flag as racists and reflecting white supremacy, and then decried the flag as being not historically accurate.
Ah, I believe that is exactly historical.
It perfectly reflects our failings, maybe not a great flag, but definitely a teachable moment.
I do not think a flag designed by committee would be successful. Why not have a competition, allowing anyone to compete? The judges could be the legislature, or better yet, have the legislature winnow down entries to about 3 or 4, then have the public decide.
That’s what they did with the national Vietnam War Memorial in D.C. That monument is a powerful argument in favor of doing the same with the Minnesota state flag. The committee approach is necessarily political and is impossible to be anything of artistic merit.