Since 1893, the Minnesota state flag has always been the same, a blue background with an intricate landscape seal in the middle. However, throughout time other states had the same idea leaving the United States with many flags that look the same.

To many of our state citizens, Minnesota’s flag is seen as too similar to other states’ flags, or too intricate and small of a design. However, for more experienced flag viewers it depicts settlers planting their crops with a Native American in the background. This can be seen as an offensive depiction as settlers pushed Native Americans off the land at the beginning of the colonization of Minnesota.

However, no need to worry! The state of Minnesota has passed new legislation, and anyone who wanted to could have signed up and submitted a proposed design for Minnesota’s new state flag. Submissions were closed on October 30, leaving students guessing what the new state flag might look like. The flag will be voted on by voting members of the State Emblems Redesign Commission and will be put in place on Minnesota’s 2024 day of statehood on May 11 unless further conversation is needed.

Therefore, I have made it a goal to see what University of Minnesota students want to see and what students do not want to see on the new flag. As I understood that the previous flag had too much going on in such a small space, I asked a group of students to give a simple yet meaningful response. The results I gathered are below:

Do’s

– A loon pictured on a blue lake-colored background 

– A few hockey sticks with a blue lake-colored background

– A scene of farm equipment with a field as the background

– A pair of hockey sticks as the antlers of a deer on a forested background

– A picture of a cabin dock as the sun sets

– A spin-off of the American flag with a lake in place of the stars, and hockey sticks as the stripes

– Pictures of either Bob Dylan or Prince with instruments 

Don’ts

– A University of Minnesota-themed flag

– A flag that pictures the Minnesota sports teams

– A flag that pictures any past Minnesota leaders as we want to move to the future

– A flag that shows any type of technology

– A landscape painting or artwork of an area in the state

Based on the sheer opinions of students around campus, it seems that the flag can not be too specific. However in my opinion, some of these guesses are a bit far-fetched with the idea in mind to capture the entire state. Furthermore, the flag will have to stand the test of time and can not be changed again anytime soon, especially knowing how long it took for the first change. Therefore, the chances of simplicity and an overarching theme are very high. I would also like to argue that the flag should include a piece of history that will stand the test of time. This could be done by adding the year the state was admitted or by adding a graphic of an important person or place for the state of Minnesota.

With flag designs and ideas being submitted from all across the state, we know there will be some high-quality submissions. It is very hard to know just where the voting might go when it becomes time to pick the winner. However, when it is all set and done one thing will be certain. We all were given the chance to design.

More information about the State Emblems Redesign Commission tasked with coming up with the new state flag is available at https://www3.mnhs.org/serc, and there is an opportunity to sign up for updates on the commission’s work on that webpage.