Two years after Minnesota adopted a new flag, the state is seemingly warring over the design, the process of picking the flag, and communities that are refusing to fly it in favor of the old flag.
The latest community to question the new flag is Inver Grove Heights, a suburb of St. Paul. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, their City Council voted to fly the old flag on city property after more than an hour of public comment. Community members were reportedly closely divided between the two flags, and even questioned if it was appropriate for them to consider.
They are far from alone. Elk River, a northern edge suburb, voted to go back to the old flag earlier this month. Champlin, Zumbrota, North Branch, Detroit Lakes, Pine Island, Crosslake, Babbitt, Wadena and others are also rejecting the new flag.
And at least one member of the commission that came up with the new state flag can't believe her work is still being questioned.
"Well, I guess in a word, my reaction is I'm frustrated," said Anita Gaul, a voting member on the State Emblems Redesign Commission. "I thought we would have moved on by now. It's been two years."
Gaul told WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar on The Morning News that the months-long process was not done in secret. She is also a history instructor at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington, and was clearly frustrated with the divide.
"We issued a call for public submissions where we got over 2,100 flag designs," Gaul explains. "We immediately put all of them up on a website where people could comment on them, and every round, as we narrowed down those thousands of submissions. We opened it up for public comment."
Gaul says there are a lot of misconceptions about the flag being used as ammunition for reverting back to the old flag, and even called some of the claims it resembles the Somali flag a "conspiracy theory."
Gaul points out that it was a southwestern Minnesota man, Andrew Prekker, who designed the winning entry. He maintains there was no influence from any other flag. Gaul said his inspiration came from Minnesota's landscape.
"Again, I guess we've got to clarify the process," she adds. "The symbolism of this flag, and there's a lot of misconceptions, and I think just outright false information being circulated, and it keeps popping up over and over."
The old flag, which dates back to 1957, with a redesign in 1983, shows a field of deep blue with the old state seal at its center, and shows a farmer tilling his fields as a Native American rides out of the picture. There were multiple reasons given for a change needed. Those included the busy design making it difficult to differentiate from other flags and symbols. There are around 20 states that have similar flags to the old Minnesota version.
There were also issues with the treatment of Indigenous people with the image appearing to show a pioneer or settler "chasing off" a Native American. It was taken from an old territorial symbol, coming from a time when Native people were "a nuisance" to those trying to settle Minnesota.
Still, in many parts of the state, there was renewed interest in the original flag, and saying they never approved or voted for this redesign. Gaul says that's not true, with the process open to all across the state given opportunities to participate in the process.
The commission eventually backed a modified version of Prekker’s design by a vote of 11-1, and after 20,000 people from around the state weighed-in on the finalists.
The divide has also reached the Minnesota House, where eight DFL lawmakers proposed a bill that penalizes cities and counties that don't fly the new flag.
In a House that is tied 67-67 between the two parties, House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) said it has no chance of passage.
"That bill is dead on arrival," she said. "There is no way this bill is moving through. To know that Democrats are trying to take funding away from our police and fire, from our cities, it's ridiculous. We have real work that could help Minnesotans."
WCCO political analyst Blois Olson doesn't believe this is a big enough hot-button issue to affect races in Minnesota, but instead is indicative of the divide across the state.
"This is one of the greatest applause lines at Republican events is to go back to the old flag, especially in races for governor," Olson said. "I've said for months that races, none of these races are going to be won or lost by a debate over the flag. But I do think this is very telling of the mood of Minnesota. And the reason is because it's the latest piece that many Minnesotans feel was forced upon them by government."
Olson also said, on a day where Governor Tim Walz is set to give his final State of the State Address, it's Republicans voicing their displeasure in his leadership.
"This tells you where we are seven years later in the Walz administration," Olson said on the WCCO Morning News. "We did not get 'One Minnesota.' We got two Minnesota's, and the reason many conservatives feel that way is because they feel like they have not been heard."
Demuth echoed those thoughts, saying those on the right across the state felt left out.
"They felt as Minnesotans, they were disrespected in the process and everyone I have talked to wants the old flag back or at least a choice in the matter," Demuth said about the process.
According to the Secretary of State's website, the new state flag's key elements are meant to symbolize parts of the state.
The Star (North Star): A white, eight-pointed star (an octagram) represents Minnesota as the "North Star State" and its motto, L'étoile du Nord. It also mirrors the star floor pattern in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda, which was influenced by Dakota and African cultural designs.
The Dark Blue Shape: Located on the left, this stylized shape represents the geographical outline of Minnesota, symbolizing the land.
The Light Blue Field: The main, bright blue field represents Minnesota's water, honoring its nickname as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
"I thought we would have moved on by now. It's been two years."
"I thought we would have moved on by now. It's been two years."
