Flag of Minnesota facts for kids
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| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Adopted | August 2, 1983 |
| Design | State seal on a medium blue field |
| Designed by | Amelia Hyde Center |
The flag of Minnesota is the state flag of Minnesota. Its design features a modified version of the seal of Minnesota on a blue field. The first version of the flag was flown from 1893 until 1957, and was changed to be more easily manufacturable, and the state seal became simpler. The current flag was adopted in 1957 and the state seal on the flag was modified in 1983. The flag has been criticized as racist and white supremacist, depicting a white settler displacing a Native American without historical context provided about violence against Native peoples. As of March 24th, 2022, a new task force has been created by the Minnesota Legislature to discuss possibilities for flag modification and replacement.
Design
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The first state flag of Minnesota was adopted in 1893; at that time a prototype flag was commissioned from the local embroiderer Pauline Gerhardin Fjelde, which won a gold medal at the Chicago World's Fair.
1893 flag
The 1893 flag, designed by the Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis, was white on one side and light blue on the other. In the center was the state seal wreathed with white moccasin flowers, on a blue field. A red ribbon in the seal bore a motto, L'Étoile du Nord (French for "The Star of the North"). The years 1819 (establishment of Fort Snelling), 1858 (statehood), and 1893 (adoption of the flag) appeared in gold around the state seal. "Minnesota" was written under the state seal in gold and 19 gold stars arranged in clusters to form the points of a star, representing the fact that Minnesota was the 19th state to be admitted after the original 13 states.
1957 flag
The flag was redesigned in 1957, eliminating the different-colored sides in favor of a royal blue field on both sides which represented the promise given in America that gave people the right to choose leaders, instead of leadership descending from royal blood. The blue sits underneath the people which represents how the people's power is greater than any one man. This made the flag less expensive to manufacture and also more durable in high winds. This opportunity was used to correct an error of the flowers used on the seal; instead of a Pink and White Lady's Slipper, the 1893 flag showed a variant that was not native to the state.
Official statute
The law creating the 1957 state flag is located in Chapter 1 of the Official State Statutes. The chapter covers state symbols, sovereignty and other general issues. The location of the flag in the statutes is Section 1.141. The statute also requires the Secretary of State to keep a photograph of the official state flag and samples so they can be used by the public to make copies. In Minnesota, desecration of the state flag is a misdemeanor offense under State Statute 609.40.
Criticism
On numerous occasions, bills have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature to establish a legislative task force for studying changes to the flag, and numerous alternative flag designs, have been put forth and widely endorsed by state politicians and newspapers.
In 2001, the Minnesota flag was chosen as one of the ten worst flag designs in an online poll conducted by the North American Vexillogical Association.
New flag proposals
Since 1989, several efforts have been made to redesign the Minnesota flag — most notably the North Star Flag campaign. The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), in its 2001 survey of US States, US Territories and Canadian provincial flags rated the current Minnesota flag 67th out of 72 flags evaluated.
See also
In Spanish: Bandera de Minnesota para niños
