The Minnesota state flag is a two-tone blue banner with a white eight-pointed star set inside a dark blue silhouette of the state, adopted on May 11, 2024, to replace a design that had flown in various forms since 1893.1Minnesota Secretary of State. State Flag The change was driven by long-running criticism that the old flag’s central seal glorified the displacement of Native people. Two years in, the new flag is codified in state law but remains politically contested, with a growing number of Minnesota cities voting to keep flying the retired version.
What the New Flag Looks Like
The design is deliberately simple. On the hoist side, a dark blue shape in the stylized outline of Minnesota holds a white, eight-pointed star with one point directed north. The rest of the flag is a solid bright blue field. There is no text and no seal.1Minnesota Secretary of State. State Flag
Each element carries an official meaning. The dark blue shape represents the land of Minnesota. The bright blue field represents water: the state’s more than 10,000 lakes, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Lake Superior, and the start of the Great Lakes Basin. The white star is the North Star, a reference to the state motto “L’Étoile du Nord,” which no longer appears in written form on the flag. Its eight-pointed shape mirrors the Cass Gilbert-designed star inlaid in the floor of the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda, and from certain angles it can read as the letter “M.”1Minnesota Secretary of State. State Flag
Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association and author of Good Flag, Bad Flag, described the star as functioning simultaneously as a compass rose, a rotated Dakota Star honoring the Native American community, and an initial for the state. He gave the finished design an “A” grade and said he expected it to become “iconic in Minnesota.”2Star Tribune. What’s a Design Expert’s Verdict on Minnesota’s New State Flag
The flag is codified under Minnesota Statutes Section 1.141, which adopts the design certified by the State Emblems Redesign Commission and requires it to fly on the State Capitol grounds between sunrise and sunset.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Section 1.141
Why the Old Flag Was Replaced
Minnesota’s original flag was adopted on April 4, 1893, chosen through a design contest tied to the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. The winning entry, by Minneapolis artist Amelia Hyde Center, placed the Great Seal of Minnesota at the center of the banner, surrounded by a wreath of lady’s slippers, the state motto, three dates, and nineteen stars.4Minnesota Historical Society. Minnesota State Flag
The seal at the flag’s core showed a white farmer plowing land, with a rifle propped on a nearby stump, while a Native American on horseback rode toward a setting sun. Civil rights activists had objected to the imagery as far back as 1968.5NPR. Minnesota’s New State Flag Is Drawing Mixed Reactions Critics pointed to a poem by Mary Eastman, wife of the seal’s original designer, that included the lines “Give way, give way, young warrior / Thou and thy steed give way; … The white man claims them now,” as evidence the design was an explicit celebration of Indigenous dispossession.6MinnPost. Let’s Talk About Our Racist and Ugly State Flag Both Dakota and Ojibwe communities in Minnesota identified the imagery as offensive, arguing it suggested that “Indigenous people were defeated and going away, while whites won and were staying.”7Cherokee Phoenix. Minnesota Seeks Unifying Symbol to Replace State Flag
Flag-design experts added a separate objection. The old banner placed a detailed seal on a blue background, a formula shared with more than a dozen other state flags, making Minnesota’s nearly indistinguishable from a distance.7Cherokee Phoenix. Minnesota Seeks Unifying Symbol to Replace State Flag
How the Redesign Happened
In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature created the State Emblems Redesign Commission under Laws of Minnesota, 2023, Chapter 62, Article 2, Section 118. The commission’s charge was to develop new designs for both the flag and the Great Seal that would “accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota’s shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities.” Designs representing only a single person or community were prohibited.8Minnesota Secretary of State. State Emblem Redesign Commission Report
Thirteen voting members drawn from tribal communities, state agencies, and gubernatorial appointments made up the commission, chaired by Luis Fitch of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. The group held its first meeting on September 5, 2023, was required to certify its designs by January 1, 2024, and received 2,128 flag submissions and 399 seal submissions from the public.9Minnesota Historical Society. State Emblems Redesign Commission
The winning flag concept came from Andrew Prekker, a 24-year-old Luverne resident with no professional design background who described himself as a part-time graphic designer.10Dakota News Now. Luverne Resident’s Design Is Finalist for New Minnesota State Flag Prekker had started sketching flag ideas before the commission was even announced, inspired by an online group called “Minnesotans for a Better Flag.” He worked through more than 50 variations, drawing on the widely admired state flags of New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Arizona, and anchoring the design in the state motto.11MPR News. Minnesota State Flag Redesign Finalists: Luverne Designer
His original submission included tri-color stripes of white, green, and light blue behind the state outline and star. The commission removed the stripes in favor of a solid bright blue field and swapped Prekker’s star for the eight-pointed version drawn from the Capitol Rotunda floor. Kaye, brought in as a vexillology consultant, had specifically recommended simplifying the field and strengthening the star’s points.2Star Tribune. What’s a Design Expert’s Verdict on Minnesota’s New State Flag
Both the new flag and the new seal took effect on May 11, 2024, Statehood Day, marking the 165th anniversary of Minnesota’s admission to the Union. At about 5:00 a.m. that morning, Capitol grounds supervisor Charlie Krueger presided over a ceremony to lower the old flag for the final time; two Minnesota National Guard members folded it and presented it to the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation. Around 5:45 a.m., the new banner was raised over the Capitol.12MPR News. New Minnesota State Flag Debuts at State Capitol
The New State Seal
The commission also produced a new Great Seal, adopted the same day. Based on a concept by designer Ross Bruggink, the seal features a common loon amid wild rice, with Norway Pine trees, a stylized representation of water, and a white four-pointed star. An outer ring of 98 rectangular golden bars represents the state’s 87 counties and 11 federally recognized American Indian tribes. In place of the old French motto, the seal carries the Dakota phrase “Mni Sóta Makoce,” meaning “Land of the sky tinted water.”13Minnesota Secretary of State. State Seal
The Ongoing Pushback
Reaction to the new flag has been sharply divided. Some residents held Statehood Day parties to mark the debut, and a few have gotten tattoos of the design. Secretary of State Steve Simon called the transition a “useful and positive pivot point” to symbols that “represent all of us.”5NPR. Minnesota’s New State Flag Is Drawing Mixed Reactions
Opponents have been vocal and persistent. Republican commission member Bjorn Olson said the public should have been allowed to vote on the design. Representative Ron Kresha coauthored nine bills in 2024 aimed at repealing the new flag or placing it on a statewide ballot.14Minnesota House of Representatives. Rep. Ron Kresha News Simon has responded that Minnesota is not an initiative-and-referendum state, and any such statewide vote would require a constitutional amendment.15Post-Bulletin. We’re Not Taking It Down, Minnesota GOP Chair Says About Old State Flag
A recurring line of attack has been that the new flag resembles the national flag of Somalia or the flag of Somalia’s Puntland region. Officials and fact-checkers have called the comparison inaccurate; the Somali flag features a solid light blue field with a centered five-pointed white star, a substantially different layout. The commission’s decision to drop the earlier tri-color stripes was made partly to avoid such comparisons.16PBS NewsHour. What to Know About Minnesota’s New State Flag and Seal U.S. Representative Tom Emmer nevertheless characterized the new design as “woke,” and at the Minnesota Republican Party’s June 2026 state convention he presented a video featuring an image of the new flag “bursting into flames.”17MinnPost. Let’s Fly the New Minnesota Flag — Or Not — Or the Old One Too
Cities Flying the Old Flag
State law does not require municipalities to fly the state flag, and a growing number have used that discretion. As of mid-2026, at least 15 cities had voted to fly the retired 1983 flag instead of the current one, with 13 of those votes occurring since the beginning of 2026.18MPR News. Why Some Cities Are Not Flying Minnesota’s Official State Flag They include Elk River, Champlin, Zumbrota, Babbitt, Wadena, Pine Island, North Branch, St. Francis, and Byron.19MPR News. Elk River Votes to Keep Flying Retired Minnesota State Flag In Elk River, roughly 75% of the approximately 1,000 residents who provided feedback preferred the old flag.20CBS News Minnesota. Elk River to Fly Old State Flag At least five counties have formally condemned the new design.15Post-Bulletin. We’re Not Taking It Down, Minnesota GOP Chair Says About Old State Flag
Some communities have looked for middle ground. Itasca County voted to fly both the old and new flags on separate poles. Detroit Lakes voted to fly no state flag at all, with its mayor comparing the decision to the Judgment of Solomon.17MinnPost. Let’s Fly the New Minnesota Flag — Or Not — Or the Old One Too
Legislative Responses
DFL Representative Mike Freiberg introduced HF 5077, which would have cut local government aid by 10% for cities flying the old flag. The bill received a hearing in the House Taxes Committee but had no Senate companion, and House Speaker Lisa Demuth said it had “no path forward.” Freiberg himself acknowledged the bill was not intended to pass, describing it as a way to raise awareness about the debate.21KTTC. House Bill Introduced to Penalize Minnesota Cities Not Flying Current State Flag
An online petition to reinstate the old flag has collected more than 10,000 signatures, and the Minnesota Republican Party has hosted a separate petition condemning the new design.22Alpha News. Petition to Reinstate Minnesota’s Original State Flag Reaches 10K Signatures No repeal effort has gained traction in the legislature, and no statewide referendum is possible without a constitutional amendment.23KTTC. Two Years Later: Exploring Elements of Minnesota’s Revised State Flag The 2024 design remains the official flag of Minnesota.