Minnesota unveiled a new flag. What states have gotten new flags in recent years?

Hannah Murdock
·2 min read
9
Minnesota’s new state flag flies.
Minnesota’s new state flag flies. | Minnesota State Emblems Redesign Commission

A panel tasked with choosing a new Minnesota state flag officially announced the winning design to replace the state flag that has been criticized for being offensive to Native Americans.

The State Emblems Redesign Commission voted Tuesday on both a new state flag and seal, which will become official April 1, 2024, unless the state Legislature rejects the new designs, The Associated Press reported.

Minnesota’s current state flag features a Native American riding off on a horse as a white settler plows a field with a rifle resting against a stump nearby.

The Minnesota state flag is displayed in the state Capitol building rotunda, March 24, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.
The Minnesota state flag is displayed in the state Capitol building rotunda, March 24, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. | Mohamed Ibrahim/Report for America via Associated Press

The new design is much more simplistic. A white eight-pointed star on the left side of the flag references the state motto — “Star of the North” — while the dark and light blue panels represent the state’s waterways.

The winning design by 24-year-old Andrew Prekker was chosen from more than 2,600 submissions.

“It is my greatest hope that this new flag can finally represent our state and all its people properly,” Prekker said. “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 is the latest state to opt for a more minimalistic state flag. Here’s a look at the states that have adopted new flags in recent years:

Utah

In 2023, the Utah Legislature passed a law creating a new state flag.

The old design is a seal-on-a-bedsheet flag featuring an eagle, two American flags, a beehive and more, on a dark blue background.

The old Utah flag flies over the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021.
The old Utah flag flies over the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The new design “pays homage to the state’s snow-capped mountain peaks,  red-rock canyons and nickname, the Beehive State,” according to The New York Times.

New Utah state flag.
New Utah state flag. | State of Utah

Mississippi

In January 2021, Mississippi officially replaced its old state flag, a controversial design that featured the Confederate battle emblem.

Mississippi was the last state to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its flag, according to The New York Times.

The old Mississippi state flag flies outside the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Mississippi, June 25, 2020.
The old Mississippi state flag flies outside the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Mississippi, June 25, 2020. | Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press

The new design features the state’s flower — a magnolia — and the phrase “In God We Trust.”

The new design of the Mississippi state flag displayed outside the Old State Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson, Miss on Sept. 2, 2020.
The new design of the Mississippi state flag displayed outside the Old State Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson, Miss on Sept. 2, 2020. | Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press

States considering changing their flags

Other states that are considering officially changing their state flag include:

  • Michigan.

  • Illinois.

  • Maine.