Commission makes their choice for the new Minnesota state flag
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The commission in charge of choosing Minnesota's new state flag appears to have settled upon the winning design Friday afternoon, three days after it narrowed the options down to just three.
WCCO's Caroline Cummings, who has been monitoring the commission's deliberations Friday afternoon, says they have honed in on the "F1953" submission as their selection. It depicts a star within a blue inverse-triangular field evoking the shape of Minnesota on the left side, with the right side dominated by three stripes.
However, the commission is also weighing a few variations of the flag that change up the color schemes and, in one instance, the presence of stripes at all.
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The Minnesota State Emblems Redesign Commission waded through more than 2,000 design submissions over the past six months. It granted the public the opportunity to provide feedback along the way, drawing thousands of comments in the process.
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The commission's work is far from over once they settle on a finalist. The design will still be open to modifications, as was seen with the adoption of the state seal earlier this month.
The commission has until Jan. 1, 2024, to complete a report with the finalists for flag and seal, and both will make their debut on May 11, 2024, which is Minnesota's Statehood Day.
Also on Friday, the commission finalized the design specs for the state seal replacement.
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According to state statute, the new designs "must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities." However, "symbols, emblems, or likenesses that represent only a single community or person, regardless of whether real or stylized, may not be included in a design."
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Calls for changing the flag and seal have been growing for years, with proponents stating the main image on the current flag, introduced in 1957, and the seal, created in 1861, includes racist imagery. Both depict a White settler tilling the land as an Indigenous man on horseback rides off into the distance.
