Minnesota unveils new state flag design
Minnesota announced the winning design for its new state flag on Tuesday after a competition prompted by criticism that the current flag was offensive to Native Americans.
The new design consists of a light blue right panel, representing the state’s many lakes, and a navy blue left panel, resembling the shape of Minnesota, with an eight-pointed north star. It is a vast departure from the current flag: a busy design with the state seal in the center, with a pioneer next to a rifle and an Indian with a spear on horseback, which one lawmaker described as “a messy genocidal mess.”
The winning flag proposal, submitted by Andrew Prekker of Luverne, was chosen from more than 2,600 entries by a committee appointed by the state legislature to redesign both the flag and the state seal.
“It is my greatest hope that this new flag can finally properly represent our state and all its people,” Mr. Prekker, a 24-year-old artist and writer, said in a statement. “That every Minnesotan from every background – including those indigenous communities and tribal nations who have been historically excluded – can look at our flag with pride and honor and see themselves in it.”
The committee must submit the winning design to the legislature and governor as of January 1 for final approval. A new flag is expected to make its debut on May 11, Minnesota’s 166th birthday.
Last week, the committee also voted to adopt draft changes to the state seal. The winning seal design features a diver, the state bird, in a striking pose surrounded by other common Minnesota features: waves, wild rice, pine trees and stars. The winning design will retain a similar shape, typography and pattern to the original seal adopted in 1858, the year Minnesota became a state.
The lead-up to the selection of a new flag design involved fierce debate and searching among many Minnesotans as they tried to imagine how their home – known for its many lakes, frigid winters and summer markets – could be turned into a flag displayed. . Some legislators claimed the scene in the seal wasn’t racist, while farmers concerns expressed that they would not be represented.
The thousands of entries included a vector drawing of a diver bird with laser eyes, a childlike one sketch of a spider web and a photo of a Labrador in a lush field. Last month, the committee announced six finalists, but even those were not without controversy: “This flag, F29, gives the impression that Minnesota is all snow, which is not true,” one person complained in the newspaper. public comments regarding one design with a snowflake. “Absolutely not. This is horrible,” wrote another with the same flag.
While some complained that the winning design was ‘boring’, ‘too nationalistic’ or ‘just pointless’, others praised it for its simplicity. “Maybe my first choice,” one person wrote. Another commented: “Would I wear it on a hat? Yes.”
Although Mr. Prekker’s First design featured a green stripe, representing nature and agriculture, but was later removed, according to photos on the commission’s site. The Minnesota Historical Society, which includes the committee, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening about removing the line.
Sarah Agaton Howes, 47, an artist from the Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota, whose design was one of the finalists and said the competition challenged many Minnesotans to have uncomfortable conversations about their history and their state’s story.
“The story we tell about who we are is changing,” she said. “We’re replacing a really racist, really horrible image with something that’s more representative.” From the old design she added: ‘Sayonara.’