Minnesota

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The flag of Minnesota is the state flag of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its design features a light blue field with a shape on the hoist representing the shape of Minnesota, with a star representing the North Star.

History[]

The original flag of Minnesota which simply featured a stylized seal on a background (white one side, blue other side) was adopted in 1893, in advance of the state's mounting an exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It was significantly revised in 1957 (removing the white side and modifying the style of the seal) and received a minor update in 1983 (the seal was redrawn, and the color field was lightened from a royal blue to a medium blue).

Historical Flags[]

Criticism and calls for redesign[]

The previous Minnesota flag has been widely criticised for decades. Flag experts have detracted the flag's design for being unmemorable, indistinguishable from afar, and similar to many state flags. On numerous occasions over a span of several decades, bills have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature to establish a legislative task force for studying changes to the flag.

The North Star Flag[]

The North Star Flag design was created in 1989 by Lee Herold and Reverend William Becker. Herold presented the proposal to state legislators in 1989, supported by Republican representative Gil Gutknecht.

2023 redesign commission[]

On March 22, 2022, two Democratic members of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Mike Freiberg and Peter Fischer, introduced a bill to redesign the state's flag and seal. Fischer began supporting a flag redesign in 2017 after a group of high school students raised the issue to him. The law outlines specific guidelines for the redesign, stipulating that the new designs "must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities," and that symbols representing only a single community or person are prohibited.