We're Getting a New State Flag

I've written before about Minnesota's racist state seal, which is also on our state flag (first here, then here).

Since a bill passed in last spring's legislative session, we've known that we would be getting a new flag and seal, and in the past few months a special commission has been working on designs for a new seal and flag. 

People in Minnesota were asked to submit their designs and reasoning for the designs. They were given a design brief, which set some substantial constraints on what would be considered.

The commission reached consensus on a seal fairly quickly:




The designer, Ross Bruggink, turned in his design with several color versions to show its flexibility.

I agree with this choice of seal, and it was generally popular in the public reaction. For those not from around here, the loon is our state bird, though it's primarily found in the northern part of the state. The design may still be modified, at least slightly, before it's finalized.

The flag decision has been more controversial. Out of 2,600 submitted, there are six finalist designs and people tend to have a favorite among a few of them, or dislike all of them.

In the latest round of public input, the commission had the finalist designs printed onto fabric at full size and hung them in one of the rotundas at the Mall of America, then got reactions from shoppers who saw them in that more realistic setting.

This is a good idea, and when I saw a photo of them in this morning's Star Tribune, or this photo by Nicole Neri from Minnesota Public Radio, I realized that I finally have a pretty strong opinion on which flag is the best:

While I think any of these is better than our current flag and I will not complain about whatever decision is made, only one of these is really a state flag design: the one on the left. Yes, it could have better contrast between the blue and green in the horizontal stripes, and yes, I'm not sure the star needs eight points. The commission can tinker with the specifics. But the basic design works as a flag, and makes sense for the state of Minnesota.

The ones in the third, fifth and sixth spots look too corporate, as if they should be flying over a headquarters building or a bank. The second and fourth ones are not flag designs at all, in my opinion. (You can see the designs better as flat art here.)

Meanwhile, I just found out that my new favorite flag was designed by a 24-year-old named Andrew Prekker who's from Luverne, a town in the southwest corner of the state.