(Daily360.com) – The state of Minnesota has redesigned its state flag to be more “inclusive.” The long-time state flag that debuted in 1893 featured a man plowing a field, another man in the background riding a horse, a tree stump, and other representations of the state like flowers, water, and terrain over a blue background. The flag has remained mostly intact other than some slight revisions in 1957 and then again in 1983.
However, the coming 2024 flag is a complete departure from the soon-to-be former state flag. The reason given for the abandonment of the old flag was that some that the man on the horse was a Native American and the man plowing was a European settler. Critics view these characters as portraying a racial narrative that the white man was victorious over a Native man and won the land.
The new flag features no characters at all; it’s a simple flag featuring an eight-pointed star over a navy blue section on the left with a teal colored section to the right. The star is to represent the state’s motto of “Star of the North” as well as “diversity”, while the dark blue area is purported to be an abstract representation of the state itself.
This flag with its three elements would seem to be basic enough to avoid controversy but that’s not the case. Although this is the final design, the initially picked wining design had three horizontal bars on the right side in light blue, white and green. With that color scheme running next to the star on the left, it made the flag look very much like the national flag of Somalia. Minnesota is the home to the largest Somali community in the nation and is the state that elected far-left Democrat congresswoman Ilhan Omar who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee.
The flag was selected from among the publicly submitted designs. The Star Emblems Redesign Commission voted 11-1 to make 24-year-old Andrew Prekker’s submission the new state flag. His flag, known as submission design F1935, beat out all the others despite the fact that 50% of his original work was redesigned after its selection. The new flag will be flown throughout the state beginning on May 11, 2024.
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