Though they’re just as quick to point out their dislike of the shades of colors, as well as the order of the stripes. When it comes to my design, Minnesotans love the symbology behind the colors and that the swallowtail represents an abstract shape of Minnesota. I’ve received loads of feedback on my design, mainly from the public. It really didn’t hit me that I was a serious contender - or the significance of the whole opportunity - until I was watching one of the committee’s livestreams straight from the Capitol, as they taped my design up on the board for the six finalists. I remember being stunned at making the final 216 designs. What has it been like following the State Emblems Redesign Commission’s process?įollowing the committee’s process has been so exciting but also a little overwhelming. With a recent trend of states redesigning their flags, I thought it was only time Minnesota deserves a beautiful, unique and representative flag that every Minnesotan could proudly fly from their doorsteps. It’s not a unifying symbol for everyone, and I wanted to create a flag that our Indigenous communities and tribal nations could see representation in as well. ![]() And I thought it was important that our state finally had a flag that we could uniquely call our own.īut also, the imagery featured on the original flag, of an Indigenous person leaving the land while a colonizer farms it, is a problematic representation of our state. I was drawn towards redesigning the flag for several reasons: Minnesota’s original flag is a complex seal on a blue background and is almost indistinguishable from 10 other midwestern state flags of the same design. It was important to me to try to make the best possible flag that I could. I spent many many hours creating 50-plus flag variations, researching Minnesota history, consulting vexillology groups (experts in flag design), as well as asking for a lot of advice from friends and family. So I jumped right in to making revisions. About a week later the official Minnesota Emblems Redesign Commission was announced, and it felt like fate. I joined the designated Facebook group and shared my version of the state flag just for fun. ![]() State Emblems Redesign Commission Can you tell me about your process and why you decided to submit?įunnily enough, I stumbled upon an online group called “Minnesotans for a better flag,” and was so intrigued by the idea that I decided to give it a go. For the stripes, white represents snow/winter, the green stripe represents our beautiful nature and the importance of agriculture and the light blue stripe represents the several significant meanings of water to our state: as the land of 10,000 lakes, the birth state of the Mississippi River and the origins of our state’s name -which came from the Dakota language- which translates to “a place of sky-tinted water.” ![]() ![]() Our state’s motto “L’etoile Du Nord,” which means “star of the north” was the reason I incorporated a North Star into every version I made, including the finalist design.Įach color was chosen to symbolize a different important aspect of Minnesota and its identity. I’d say most of my inspiration came from Minnesota itself and all the rich history that supplied plenty of creative directions I could go. Other state flags known for their simplicity, memorability and popularity, such as Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, were big inspirations in what I wanted to achieve. Prekker: There were several inspirations behind my design. The conversation with Prekker has been edited for clarity and length.
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