The Minnesota state flag adopted on May 11, 2024 shows a dark blue silhouette of the state on the hoist side, a lighter blue field to the right representing water, and a white eight-pointed star pointing north.1 It replaced a 1957-era design that had drawn decades of criticism for imagery Native leaders called offensive and for a “seal on a bedsheet” look that vexillologists ranked among the country’s worst. Two years in, the flag is still contested: a June 2026 poll found 50 percent of likely voters disapprove, and at least 15 cities have voted to keep flying the old flag instead.
What the Flag Looks Like and What It Means
The design has two color fields. On the left, a dark blue shape traces a stylized outline of Minnesota, standing for the land. The rest of the flag is a brighter blue for water, a reference to the state’s 10,000 lakes, the headwaters of the Mississippi, and the shore of Lake Superior.
Centered on the dark blue is a white eight-pointed star with one point aimed due north, echoing the state motto L’étoile du Nord. The star mirrors the African marble star inlaid in the floor of the State Capitol Rotunda, originally designed by Cass Gilbert. Ted Kaye of the North American Vexillological Association identified three overlapping meanings in the shape: a compass rose, a motif found in Dakota iconography, and a form seen on barns in southern Minnesota. From some angles, the eight points also read as four letter “M”s.
Kaye graded the new design an “A+” and predicted it would rank among the country’s ten best state flags, citing its simplicity, limited palette, absence of lettering or a seal, and the unusual use of an abstract state outline.
The Flag It Replaced
Minnesota’s previous flag, in use in essentially its current form since 1957 with a minor 1983 update, was a blue banner with the Great Seal of Minnesota in the center. The seal depicted a white farmer plowing a field while a Native American man rode away on horseback.
Two lines of criticism built up over decades. Design experts dismissed it as one of many “seal on a bedsheet” flags, and the North American Vexillological Association ranked it among the ten worst state flags in 2001. Native leaders and advocates argued the seal celebrated the forced displacement of Dakota people. Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, described the old flag as showing “a Native person being forced off their land.” Between 2000 and 2023, the legislature considered ten separate redesign bills before one finally passed.
How the New Flag Was Chosen
In May 2023, the DFL-controlled legislature created the State Emblems Redesign Commission and directed it to develop new designs for both the flag and the seal that would “accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota’s shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities.” Symbols representing only a single person or community were prohibited.
The commission had 13 voting members, including representatives of the state’s Dakota and Ojibwe communities, several ethnic-affairs councils, the Minnesota Historical Society, Explore Minnesota Tourism, the State Arts Board, and Secretary of State Steve Simon. Four legislators, evenly split between the parties, served as nonvoting members. Luis Fitch chaired.
A public submission window in October 2023 brought in 2,128 flag designs and 399 seal designs, along with more than 21,800 public comments. Finalists were displayed at the Mall of America and the Becker County Museum. On December 19, 2023, the commission approved the final flag and seal by an 11-to-1 vote, with one member absent. The entire process cost $35,000 in public funds.
The winning flag concept came from Andrew Prekker, a 24-year-old from Luverne with no professional design background, who said he drew on the clean, recognizable flags of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. “It’s an important change that is necessary to be inclusive to all people in Minnesota, especially our Indigenous communities and tribal nations,” Prekker told CBS News Minnesota. The commission modified his submission, replacing his stylized north star with the eight-pointed version and removing three horizontal bars from the right side.
The New State Seal
The commission also adopted a new Great Seal, effective the same day. It shows a common loon with a red eye at the center, surrounded by wild rice, water, pine trees, and a white four-pointed star. An outer ring of 98 golden bars represents Minnesota’s 87 counties and 11 federally recognized American Indian tribes. On the seal, the French motto L’Étoile du Nord was replaced by the Dakota phrase Mni Sóta Makoce, meaning “Land where the waters reflect the skies.” The seal was designed by Minneapolis graphic designer Ross Bruggink.
Why the Flag Is Controversial
Opposition began almost immediately. Republican leaders David Hann and Donna Bergstrom denounced the redesign, accusing the DFL of a “quest to erase our history,” and the state Republican Party launched a website to “save the current state flag.” Republican legislators, including two who had served as nonvoting members of the commission, introduced bills to put the design to a public vote. Secretary of State Steve Simon pointed out that Minnesota’s constitution does not permit statewide ballot initiatives or referenda, so a public vote would itself require a constitutional amendment.
At the county level, Crow Wing, Nobles, Houston, McLeod, Becker, Mower, Douglas, and Fillmore counties passed formal resolutions opposing or resisting the flag. Cost was a recurring complaint. Mower County estimated $12,000 to replace its flags; Wright County put its total at more than $150,000 when seals, badges, and building signage were included. Republican lawmakers called for state reimbursement, but no funds were appropriated.
The Somalia Comparison
A recurring line of attack is that the new flag resembles the flag of Somalia, which is light blue with a white star. The comparison has been raised at city council meetings and amplified online; a right-wing content creator’s viral video in December 2025 reportedly drew attention from the Trump administration. Ted Kaye rejected the comparison, telling Valley News Live: “There are only so many colors you can choose for flags, and you’re going to choose colors that others have chosen as well. That doesn’t mean there’s any connection.” Rep. Mike Freiberg, who introduced the first flag-redesign bill in 2021, called the dispute a “manufactured culture war.”
Do Cities Have to Fly the Official Flag?
No. State law does not require municipalities to fly the official state flag, and cities that decline face no legal consequence. As of mid-2026, at least 15 cities had voted to fly the 1983-era flag on city property instead, with 13 of those votes coming since the start of 2026. Detroit Lakes, Crosslake, Pequot Lakes, Babbitt, Elk River, Champlin, Byron, Zumbrota, Plainview, St. Francis, and North Branch are among them.
In 2026, eight DFL lawmakers introduced HF 5077, which would cut state governmental aid by 10 percent for any county or city flying a flag other than the certified design. The bill got a hearing in the House Taxes Committee but had no Senate companion. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican, called it “dead on arrival.” Freiberg said his aim was a legislative statement in support of the official flag rather than passage.
Where Public Opinion Stands
A Minnesota Poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy for the Star Tribune, KARE 11, and the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism surveyed 800 likely voters between June 8 and June 10, 2026. Fifty percent disapproved of the new flag, 30 percent approved, and 20 percent were unsure. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The partisan split was sharp. Ninety percent of Republicans disapproved, with 2 percent in support. A modest majority of Democrats approved, though 16 percent disapproved and nearly 30 percent were unsure. Among independents, 53 percent opposed the flag. The design polled best in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, home to Minneapolis and St. Paul, where 45 percent approved and 30 percent disapproved. In the Twin Cities suburbs and exurbs, 53 percent disapproved. The flag did not command majority support in any region of the state.