RED LAKE — In December, the State Emblems Redesign Commission, which was created by the Legislature, adopted the new Minnesota state flag. The new flag is brilliantly blue — like the sky above us and the waters around us. The color “Minnesota Blue” was chosen for the abstract shape of Minnesota as part of the new state flag. No other color could be more appropriate. “Sky-blue” is the color used to represent our sky-blue waters; after all, we are the Land of 10,000 Lakes and the origin of the Mississippi River.
The white, eight-point star was turned from its traditional depiction of two points on each side, so that one point faced up to make it also representative of the North Star. The white color is closer to what we see in the sky at night as opposed to the outdated use of gold. White is also a nod to ancient cultures that used it as a symbolic representation of water.
While a selburose — e.g., a typically knitted rose pattern, seen by some as a broken star, in the shape of an octagram — is commonly used in quilting, it doesn’t hold the cultural significance of the eight-point star, as in the style that Cass Gilbert chose for the Capitol rotunda. Gilbert’s use of it was influenced both by the Dakota peoples here and the Karanga peoples in Africa.
Concept design
Andrew Prekker of Luverne was the creator of the final design concept selected by the commission. Prekker’s concept was utilized as a starting point for the commission to design the flag.
A hard part of flag design is that depictions in graphics can use a multitude of colors, but we needed to be sure the colors can be replicated across a range of mediums and still look the same. The textile industry can only use a limited number of colors that are able to look the same no matter the medium. It is hard for the public and the media to understand this until they can touch or observe the new state flag once it has been produced in varying mediums. A simple graphic illustration doesn’t provide the complete picture.
The Great Seal
The concept of the new Great Seal, or state seal, was designed by Ross Bruggink of Minneapolis. It features a nature scene of Minnesota that utilizes official state symbols. Of course, there’s water; wild rice, which is our official state grain; then our state bird the common loon, in an art deco style that includes its notable red eyes; a contemporary North Star; and land with a couple of red pines, which is our state tree.
The imagery is centered perfectly on the blazon of the Great Seal, without looking cluttered. The annulus of the Great Seal keeps the former font. It also incorporates the same style of outer and inner border of the annulus as the old seal.
The Great Seal was removed from the state flag because they serve different purposes. The flag is used to identify a group — in this case, Minnesotans — from a distance; the Great Seal is a functional tool of state government and is a symbol of its power and authority.
Statehood Day
Although you can view the new state flag on the State Emblems Redesign Commission’s website, people won’t see it unveiled on state buildings until it is raised up over the Capitol Building and on the Capitol Mall at the Peace Officers’ Memorial during the same time on Statehood Day, May 11.
Cities and counties are encouraged to hold retirement ceremonies, if possible, on the same day at the same time. This could involve local law enforcement or veterans’ groups to lower the old flag and hand it over to someone from a local or county historical society for preservation, and then raise the state flag.
This would make a fitting tribute to Statehood Day across Minnesota. Although it will be a Saturday, it will also be the first day that the Great Seal will be in use. Certain state officials with a duty to use the Great Seal will have until Jan. 1, to replace their seals; this also includes county recorders who have a duty to use the Great Seal as outlined in statute.
Lawmakers may introduce bills that contradict the commission’s decisions. We understand from legislative leaders that significant changes are unlikely.
However, bills to amend the Great Seal — eliminating the unofficial language from its blazon and reinserting the year of statehood into the annulus — have already been submitted for introduction to avoid a costly court battle later, given the threats of litigation over those issues and their apparent noncompliance with laws.
During our deliberations, a common question arose: Why did the previous flag and seal needed to be replaced?
In short, the old flag of Minnesota was designed in a way we would never consider acceptable now or even 50 or 60 years ago.
The old Great Seal memorialized “Manifest Destiny,” according to Gov. Henry Hastings Sibley, who had it designed without approval from the Legislature.
When the time came for the seal to be retroactively approved by the Legislature more than three decades later, and a need for a flag was also on the table, they slapped them together.
A flag is meant to symbolize a common group – in this case, Minnesotans – and be recognized at a significant distance. The old flag failed on both counts.
The old Great Seal was an eyesore to many, as well as a symbol of the horrors that came during the period in our nation’s history known as “Manifest Destiny.”
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