Minnesota’s new state flag should feature an eight-pointed North Star against a dark blue background shaped like the state, with a solid light blue field at the right, a special commission decided Tuesday as it picked a replacement for an older design that many Native Americans considered offensive.

The State Emblems Redesign Commission chose the final version on an 11-1 vote after finalizing a new state seal that depicts a loon, the state bird. Unless the Legislature rejects them, the new flag and seal will automatically become official April 1, 2024, when Minnesota observes Statehood Day.

The star echoes Minnesota’s state motto of “Star of the North.” The commission’s chairman, Luis Fitch, said that to him, the light blue represents the Mississippi River, “the most important river in the United States,” pointing to the North Star. But he acknowledged it could mean other things to other people. Symmetry and simplicity won out over other versions, including ones that included a green stripe for the state’s agricultural heritage.

  • Ranvier
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    6 months ago

    Don’t worry, Republican legislators are already in frothing rage about the change. I’m sure it has nothing to do with them wanting to keep the problematic imagery in the current one of native Americans being driven off their land. /s

    Also they’re spreading some conspiracy theory the new flag is supposed to look like the flag of Somalia or something and that this is a prelude to Sharia law being imposed. I wish I was joking. Yeah, because it has blue colors and a star in it, it must be an homage to Somalia, couldn’t have anything to do with being the “land of 10,000 lakes” and “the north star state.” Or even the old flag, which get this, is blue with a big star in it.

    I also liked the version with the stripes better, but this is very nice too, and anything is better than the atrocious current one. The new seal with the loon is very nice too.

    Other states that just lazily slapped their seals on to a blue background take note and get to fixing them up please.

    New seal:

    • IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Libtard snowflakes don’t even know what a seal looks like. It sure ain’t looks like a bird, I tell ya

          • Ranvier
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            6 months ago

            I have fantastic news for you, looks like the one I posted was revised slightly before approval. It’s got the red eye now!

              • Ranvier
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                6 months ago

                I agree it’s much better this way. Laser loon lives on.

            • kase@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              They changed the words too! Idk what they mean though, the old words or the new words

              • Ranvier
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                6 months ago

                Old words are the state motto which is in French, star of the north. New words are the Dakota name for the Minnesota river, from which the state derives its name. Some controversy over which barely visible words to go with. Both seem fine to me, I just want that red loon eye.

    • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Loonie flag?

      Why are the using the same bird as the Canadian money?

      Is Minnesota signaling they intend to join Canada?

      • Ranvier
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        6 months ago

        I wish! It’s the state bird though. It’s been the unofficial seal and symbol for some time already. And with all the lakes there are tons of loons.

    • Kerensky1101@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Other states that just lazily slapped their seals on to a blue background take note and get to fixing them up please.

      As a Virginian, I take slight offfense at this! ^but ^yeah ^our ^flag ^is ^just ^the ^state ^seal ^^on ^^a ^^blue ^^background

    • Occamsrazer@lemdro.id
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      6 months ago

      No that was the tricolor variation that preceded this final design, and it actually did look like a Somalia flag. I think this one will be pretty well liked by pretty much everyone. The only people who won’t like it will instinctively not like it because of the taint of wokeness as a motive to change it. Whatever. But at the end of the day, it was a trash flag and everyone will ultimately agree that it’s better now.

      • Ranvier
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        6 months ago

        Ironically the changes brought it closer to the actual flag of Somalia which is just light blue with a star on it (the three stripes were from some provincial flag, obviously cherry picked out of the many different flags with green blue and white in them to try and rile people up). I don’t care though I think it was a stupid argument anyways. I liked the look of the stripes better, but I like this one too. Just was very tired at seeing the very predictable rhetoric from the right in response to a positive change correcting an ugly poorly designed flag. Glad there’s a new one now.