Minnesotans have a few more days to submit designs for the new Minnesota state flag and seal to the State Emblems Redesign Commission.
Go to the SERC website and submit your design by Oct. 30.
The 13-member commission, established during the 2023 legislative session, has a Jan. 1 deadline to select a new flag and seal. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is serving on the commission alongside members of the public and advocates from several Minnesota organizations. Members of the Minnesota Historical Society are overseeing the commission, which will begin deliberating Oct. 30.
The current Minnesota state seal was created in 1849 and has remained mostly unchanged since, despite its racism. The seal depicts a white farmer plowing a field as a Native American rides by on horseback, the farmer’s rifle and powderhorn propped up on a stump in the foreground. Native Americans have condemned this image for its depiction of a white settler encroaching on Native territory.
The flag was adopted in 1893 and features 19 yellow stars to form a larger star shape encircling the seal, representative of Minnesota’s status as the 19th state to join the union. Pink and white lady slippers adorn a ribbon, along with three dates important to Minnesota. References to the North Star repeat twice, as is statehood, both in the 19 stars and the reference to 1858, the year Minnesota became a state. The controversial seal is centered on the flag. Citing all the iconography and symbols, designers have criticized the flag’s crowded tableau.
On top of the racist implications of the seal, the flag itself is too busy and unrecognizable from a distance, as Lee Herold, co-creator of the North Star flag, told Kare 11.
SERC says new flags should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.
Anyone over the age of 18 is able to submit their idea for a new design for a new seal or state flag. Other criteria for submissions can be found on the SERC website, and submissions can be made either online or through the mail.
Here are some examples of flags that have already been submitted, courtesy of Minnesotans for a Better Flag.
