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The decision follows months of debate and final design tweaks by the State Emblems Redesign Commission.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota, a star, and the state’s waterways are the centerpieces of the final design chosen for Minnesota’s new state flag.
The State Emblems Redesign Commission voted to approve the final design modifications on Wednesday, after approving a slightly different general design last Friday.
The final design keeps a dark blue Minnesota-style shape with a white star on one side, but ditches the designer’s original tri-color stripes in favor of a single field of light blue to represent the waters of the Mississippi River.
In November, the state gave the public its first insight into the designs the commission collected over a month-long submission period.
The commission narrowed the field from more than 2,000 options in recent months with public feedback, facing a Jan. 1 deadline for a final decision. The Minnesota Legislature can ultimately reject the new design, but if accepted, the new flag will start flying on Minnesota’s statehood day, May 11.
The new design follows calls to change the current Minnesota flag, which features the state seal on a field of blue. The seal shows a Native American riding off into the sunset while a white settler plows his field next to a rifle leaning on a nearby stump. Critics have called that imagery offensive for depicting a Native American being driven off the land.
Earlier, the commission also accepted a design for a new state seal, which features a loon and incorporates a Dakota phrase, Mni Sota Makoce, meaning Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds.
The commission is set to meet one final time to officially sign off on its final report to the legislature, but no changes are expected to the flag design at that meeting.
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