ST PAUL, Minn — The search to find Minnesota’s next flag is down to six and remember, you have a say in it as well.
But you have less than 24 hours this round to get your thoughts to the decision-makers who are part of a new redesign commission.
The group will eventually pick its favorite – down from about 2,200 public submissions.
“Flags are not only fun, they are deeply important to people,” said Ted Kaye, a vexillologist with the North American Vexillological Association. “There are very few people who have an academic discipline background in flag studies because there is no formal discipline where you can study that.”
Kaye says some states and even more cities, 300 of them in fact, have recently redesigned their flags.
“Some state flags have what some people feel is offensive symbolism on them,” said Kaye. “There are other states for example, Utah and Maine, who have said are flag is not really effective and it’s indistinguishable from many other state flags.”
Minnesota’s current flag has largely gone unchanged for about 100 years. The imagery suggests Indigenous people were defeated and had to leave. Others say it also lacks basic design principles, including simplicity.
“You only need two to three colors and you definitely shouldn’t put a seal or writing on your flag and it should be distinctive,” said Kaye.
Those are keys that Kaye used to critique the finalists, three of whom are artists, including Sarah Agaton Howes.
“I’ve been preparing my whole life for this,” she said, who’s a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. She used a traditional loom style and white stripes that represent all the tribal nations and counties.
“Overall, I’m just really glad that we’re able to have an image that will represent all of us,” said Agaton Howes.
Brandon Hundt designed a flag eight years ago, printing a prototype that includes the North Star and blue waters.
“When I think about it, I get like a chill going through my body,” said Hundt. “But once it’s adopted, it’s no longer mine; it’s the states.”
Ross Bruggink is one of few to embrace a Minnesota winter – his design is full of symbols so simple to recreate, that even his seven-year-old daughter can draw it.
“My hope is that it does suggest the snow and it does evoke some of that Minnesota grit,” said Bruggink.
Winning it all though, leaves all of them with a profound sense of purpose and hoping a better branding will bring everyone together.
“It will take time for people to embrace the flag, but after a while, we’ll see people rally under that design,” said Kaye.
The commission can still tweak the final design pick that it has to decide on by January. The process will have happened in a matter of months, while in other states it has taken up to a year.
Their job also includes finalizing a new state seal from about 400 submissions.
The new flag will fly on May 11, which is Statehood Day, unless the legislature vetoes it.
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