MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 A state commission went to work Tuesday on designing a new state flag and seal for Minnesota to replace a current emblem in both that's considered offensive to Native Americans.
One of the main elements of includes a prominent against a blue background. The seal depicts a Native American riding off into the sunset while a white settler plows his field with his rifle leaning on a nearby stump. The imagery suggests to many that the Indigenous people were defeated and going away, while whites won and were staying.
Not only do the state's Dakota and Ojibwe tribes consider that offensive, but experts in the scientific and scholarly study of flags 鈥 known as vexillology 鈥 say it's an overly complicated design.
Guidelines from the say flags should be simple but meaningful, with just a few colors, easily recognizable from a distance, and without seals or lettering. The association ranks Minnesota in 67th place out of 72 U.S. and Canadian state and provincial flags. Minnesota's design dates from 1957, an evolution from the 1893 original.
Minnesota is joining several other states in that haven't withstood the test of time. The a simplified flag design that still includes a beehive, a symbol of the prosperity and the industriousness of the Mormon pioneers who settled the state. Mississippi voters in 2020 chose a and the phrase 鈥淚n God We Trust鈥 to replace a Confederate-themed flag that had been used by Ku Klux Klan groups and was widely condemned as racist.
Other states considering simplifying their flags include Maine, where voters will decide next year whether to replace their current banner featuring a simple pine tree and blue North Star, and
The Democratic-controlled Minnesota Legislature earlier this year 鈥 which includes representatives of the state's tribal and other communities of color 鈥 with for the flag and seal by Jan 1. Unless the Legislature rejects them, the new emblems will automatically become official on April 1, 2024, which Minnesota observes as Statehood Day.
鈥淲hat I am looking forward to is creating a flag that we can all be proud of, and a flag that everybody can look at and say: 鈥漎eah, that鈥檚 Minnesota鈥檚 flag. That鈥檚 a cool flag. That鈥檚 very distinctive," said the commission's vice chair, Anita Gall, who teaches state history at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington.
In contrast to flags, state seals, which are used among other things to stamp official documents, can be more intricate, said Democratic Rep. Mike Freiberg, of Golden Valley, an author of the legislation for the new emblems.
Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon, who sits on the panel, noted that one of his official duties is to serve as keeper of the state seal. 鈥淭hese are enduring symbols and emblems meant to last not just decades, but one or more centuries," Simon said. "And so it鈥檚 a big responsibility.鈥
Two Republican legislators with nonvoting seats on the panel urged their colleagues to choose designs that will be unifying symbols.
Rep. Bjorn Olson, of Fairmont, said the change will be difficult for him, as a student of history and as a captain in the Army Reserve, because outnumbered soldiers from Minnesota staged a critical charge that against in the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment suffered heavy casualties while carrying a flag that was similar to the current design, he said.
鈥淚 know that there鈥檚 many Minnesotans that think we need a new flag and there鈥檚 many that don鈥檛,鈥 said Sen. Steve Drazkowski, of Mazeppa. 鈥淥bviously, the decision is made 鈥 we鈥檙e going to have a new flag. And so my goal going forward ... is that we have a flag that doesn鈥檛 represent one idea or one ideology or one anything, but represents all of Minnesota.鈥
