Over this July 4th holiday weekend, the controversy over the Minnesota state flag has re-emerged. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
Some communities won’t fly new state flag: ‘It’s not a greater Minnesota flag.’
“Greater Minnesota” is how we refer to the rural parts of the state, which represent the vast majority of the state by area. Here is the old state flag, which flew in more or less this form from 1893 to 2024.
Apparently, the problem was, buried deep in the emblem, is the depiction of a Native American riding a horse. That, and the state’s motto (The Star of the North) is rendered in the original French. So, it had to go.
During a brief interval of total Democratic control of the state (2023), Democrats voted to create a flag commission, which came up with this monstrosity,
I recall the old joke, a camel is a horse designed by committee.
The flag was adopted by the commission in 2024. The design was never approved by popular voter (referendum) or by a vote of the legislature. It was merely imposed by executive fiat by Gov. Tim Walz
In contrast, consider the history of the Canadian Flag,
It was adopted in 1965 after a long debate and a vote in the House of Commons in favor (163-78). It was the first official flag adopted by the Dominion, which previously used this unofficial design,
The point being, replacing the (unofficial) red ensign was hugely controversial, but settled by a decisive vote of the elected representatives of the people. In Minnesota, the symbol that had represented the state for a century and a third was tossed aside by an unelected committee of 11.
Now the Star Tribune wanders into the countryside and wonders why,
Detroit Lakes is the latest city to oppose flying the new state flag in north-central Minnesota, where you’re more likely to see the old banner on front porches, farms and lakefront properties.
The Star Tribune notes,
Crosslake is also supporting the old state flag. In May, the council unanimously voted not to fly the new one. The cities are in Becker and Crow Wing counties, which also don’t fly the new state flag.
Only state buildings are required to fly the state flag.
It’s optional at city- and county-owned buildings: Some fly the old flag, many raised the new one, and some never flew the state flag.
So, we should leave it at that, except for the nagging suspicion at the Star Tribune that these rural communities are getting away with something by not submitting to the urban progressive will. It somehow took four (4) Star Tribune reporters to write this story.
This being Minnesota, of course, the whole thing is international news. From the U.K. Daily Mail,
The unsettling symbol quietly creeping onto US state and city flags… as fears mount over what it may represent.
Specifically, the Daily Mail is writing about the use of the eight-pointed star on the new Minnesota flag, which illustrates the June 28 story,
The Daily Mail reports,
A strange and ‘unsettling’ new symbol is quietly sweeping across the United States – and some Americans fear it’s no accident.
Dozens of cities and states have adopted – or are considering – new flag designs featuring the unfamiliar eight-point star, a symbol critics claim is more common in Islam than in US history.
Although the geometric symbol has roots in various cultures and religions around the world, it has rarely appeared in American flag iconography, which has long favored the traditional five-point star, popularized in Betsy Ross’s design of Old Glory.
Flags are powerful symbols. We haven’t heard the last of this.
