new minnesota flag
On May 11, 2024, the State of Minnesota is slated to adopt a new flag design.
Minnesota is one of several U.S. states that elected to update its state flag in recent years. In 2020, Mississippi updated its state flag and Utah is scheduled to adopt a new flag design later this year.
In 2022, Minnesota House of Representatives Mike Freiberg and Peter Fischer introduced legislation that would redesign the state flag and seal. Its guidelines stipulated the new designs "must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources and diverse cultural communities" and symbols representing a single community or person would be prohibited.
In May 2023, the Minnesota Legislature established the 17-member State Emblems Redesign Commission. Its job was to propose new Minnesota flag and seal designs. The committee comprised representatives from the Indian Affairs Council, the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans and three Governor-appointed members of the public.
In October, the committee received 2,123 state flag and 398 state seal submissions from the public. The committee convened in November to review the submissions and settled on six finalists. On December 13, the committee narrowed the designs to three, before eliminating two more flag designs two days later. The remaining flag design was then modified based on committee input. By December 19, 2023, the State Emblems Redesign Commission had a final state flag design.
The new Minnesota flag was designed by 24-year-old Andrew Prekker.
flag symbolism
The light blue field on the flag’s right (or fly) side represents the state’s lakes and waterways. The dark blue field on the flag’s left (or hoist) side represents the shape of Minnesota. Because Minnesota is known as “the North Star State,” the new flag design includes a white, eight-point North star.
The State of Minnesota has a bold, new flag design. C’mon, Cleveland, when are we going to design a new Cleveland flag?