Minnesota’s new state flag to feature North Star replacing old flag seen as racist

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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.

The new flag is a revised version of a design submitted by Andrew Prekker, 24, of Luverne, who said he was grateful and amazed for the “rare privilege” of being able to contribute to state history.

“It’s an achievement that I hope brings a lot of unity and pride to our land, and I will hold that fact with great honor for the rest of my life,” Prekker said in a statement read to the commission. “It is my greatest hope that this new flag can finally represent our state and all of its people properly — that every Minnesotan of every background, including the Indigenous communities and tribal nations who’ve been historically excluded, can look up at our flag with pride and honor and see themselves within it.”

Minnesota’s current flag dates from 1957, an update from the 1893 original. It includes the current state seal, slightly tweaked from the 1858 original, which depicts a Native…

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