Minnesota is looking for a new state flag. Residents have a few (thousand) ideas.
Ask Minnesotans about the official state flag and prepare for a barrage of criticism.
Start with readability. Seen from a distance, it is difficult to understand the jumble of dates, stars and the state slogan, in French, that depicts the central image.
Aesthetically, it’s, well, no wonder, many a Minnesotan will tell you, with Midwestern restraint.
Zoom in on the scene depicted in the core, which happens to be the state seal, to understand why a lawmaker who led the latest effort to retire the flag calls it this “a messy genocidal mess.”
In the foreground a pioneer is working a plow next to a tree stump, on which a rifle and an ax can be seen. Behind him stands a Native American man on horseback, spear in hand, riding next to a sunset.
“It’s literally an indigenous person being pushed off their land,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat who is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and has declined on principle to use the state flag or seal. official correspondence and paperwork. “It’s terrible.”
Within months it will probably become a relic.
A committee the state legislature appointed this year to design a new flag recently unveiled six finalists after reviewing more than 2,100 submissions. The committee also requested sketches for a new stamp earlier this week selected a finalist with a diver, the state bird. The current seal was adopted in 1858, the year Minnesota became a state.
The closely watched and highly publicized battle for a new flag and seal is both a soul-searching for Minnesotans and an effort to brighten the image of a state known for its bountiful lakes, cruel winters and a super large annual summer market.
“We’re dealing with seemingly six million different opinions about what home means, and we’re distilling the concept of home for so many different people,” says Todd Pitman, 39, a graphic designer who, along with his father, is one of the designers who be a last contender. “That’s one task.”
The plan to replace the flag met with some resistance. Some legislators have claimed that the scene in the seal should not be construed as racist. Have farmers concerns expressed that the new designs fail to pay tribute to the state’s agricultural sector.
The Commission for Redesigning State Emblemswhich is chaired by the Minneapolis-based artist Luis Fitchas long as detailed guidance for submissions. The entries had to be simple and easy to recognize, free of lettering and “represent Minnesota’s enduring values and aspirations, with an emphasis on inclusivity and unity.”
Minnesotans, known for their community involvement, produced more than 2,600 entries.
A large number of featured Loons, which turned out this would be a losing strategy as none of the bird flag designs were among the finalists. Some were made by children – we hope? – with colored pencils. Submission F156, a vertical photo of a Labrador retriever on a lawn, received a lot of love on the Internet. Snowflakes were in abundance, as were images of the state motto, “L’etoile du Nord” – the North Star.
Sarah Agaton Howes, 47, an artist from the Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota, said she appreciated the humor and banter the flag revision has generated. But she said she sketched her design – which is among the finalists – with a heavy heart. Her children, she said in an interview, recoil when they see the current flag.
“Powering allegiance to a flag that has hurt us is not something I want to do,” she said. “Those images and what they bring to mind are really powerful.”
Since the finalists were announced in November, members of the flag redesign committee have received more than 15,000 comments and debate is ongoing. designs are raging online. The committee must submit a finalist to the governor and Legislature by Jan. 1. The new flag is expected to make its debut on May 11, Minnesota’s 166th birthday, unless state lawmakers object.
Brandon Hundt, 40, a St. Paul-based designer whose entry made it to the final six, said he hopes the new flag will do more than ditch an emblem detested by many Minnesotans. He said he drew his inspiration from flags like New Mexico’s, which are simple and widely recognized.
“Minnesotans have not had a single symbol that represents the state,” he said. “Whatever flag is chosen, it could become truly iconic and change the way we see ourselves, visually, as a state.”