Composite screenshot of two Minnesota government websites
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A basic concept for a new Minnesota state flag has some patriotic Americans worried that the new flag pays homage to a foreign state rather than to the state of Minnesota.
Last Friday, the State Emblems Redesign Commission — a panel of 13 Minnesotans, some of whom represent "members of the state’s tribal and other communities of color," according to the AP — settled on a basic concept after receiving approximately 2,600 submissions from the public. The winning design was submitted by 24-year-old Andrew Prekker from Luverne, a city of almost 5,000 people in southwestern Minnesota, about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The left side of Prekker's design, which has already undergone minor revisions, features an abstract shape that loosely resembles the actual shape of Minnesota, and inside the shape is an eight-pointed star to reflect the state motto, "Star of the North." The right side features three stripes: white, which represents snow; green, which represents the importance of nature and agriculture; and blue, which represents water. Minnesota is not only the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," but it also contains the source of the Mississippi River.
Screenshot of Minnesota government website
However, critics on social media have noticed that this new basic flag concept bears a notable resemblance to the flag of Jubaland, a federal state in southern Somalia. The left side of the Jubaland flag has a triangular shape with a white star in the middle, and the right side is outfitted with green, blue, and white horizontal stripes.
- "Yall are conquered," "Timcast IRL" host Tim Pool wrote on X.
- "They literally turned twin cities into the slums of Somalia. Disgraceful," said another popular response.
- "Ilhan finally feels at home," came yet another popular comment.
Ilhan Omar, the controversial Democratic congresswoman representing Minneapolis and some area suburbs, originally hails from Somalia, as do many residents in her district. According to MinnPost, Minnesota has the largest Somali-American population in the United States: 86,610. Of those, 37,048 were born in Somalia.
Despite objections on social media, the SERC seems to be moving forward with the flag. The new basic concept is expected to undergo further revisions in the next couple of weeks.
"We’re not going to be able to make everybody happy," said Luis Fitch, who chairs the SERC. "The whole idea since Day One for me was to make sure that we can do a flag that unites us, not separates us."
The Minnesota legislature empaneled the SERC after receiving complaints about the current flag, adopted in 1957. While some griped that the flag's design was overly complicated, others insisted that it contained strong racist — perhaps even "genocidal" — undertones. The current flag depicts a white settler plowing a field with an axe and rifle nearby while a Native American riding a horse gallops along the periphery of the field. The white settler and Native American appear to be looking at each other.
Screenshot of Minnesota state website
"You see a very distinct line that is created by the plowed fields right in the middle showing that there is a division between the European at that time and the Indigenous person, and basically pushing them off into the sunset," Kevin Jensvold, the tribal chairman for the Yellow Medicine Dakota of the Upper Sioux Community, remarked in March 2022. "That way of life, that genocidal attempt to destroy our culture is depicted on that flag."
Last week, the SERC voted on a new state seal. Like the old seal, it features a loon, the Minnesota state bird. However, unlike the old seal, the new seal no longer includes the phrase "L’etoile du Nord," which is French for "Star of the North." Instead, it includes the Dakota phrase, "Mni Sota Makoce," from which the state derives its name. The phrase means "Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds."
Screenshot of Minnesota government website
The SERC meets again on Tuesday and must officially adopt the new seal and the new flag by January 1, 2024.
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