Minnesotans have more than 2,000 ideas for a new state flag, and loons star in many of them.
The State Emblems and Redesign Commission on Wednesday published all of the public's submissions for flag designs. The 13-member commission will now comb through the designs and pick their favorites.
Eventually, they'll narrow the list down to five finalists that could be used as the basis of the new state flag.
You can look at the submissions for yourself, but here are six takeaways if you don't have time to comb through them all:
Loons and the north star are the most popular symbols.
It seems likely that some final version of Minnesota's state flag will incorporate either a star or a loon — maybe both. An overwhelming majority of the submissions included the state's official bird floating on a lake or a golden star somewhere on the flag, playing off the state's motto, l 'etoile du nord, the north star.
Minnesota's version of red, white and blue is green, white and blue.
These three colors dominated on the designs submitted by Minnesotans — blue for Minnesota's lake-spotted landscape, green for rich prairies and forests and white to represent our frigid winters. Purple, red and black also popped up on a number of designs. Members of the State Emblems and Redesign Commission have said they want to stick to three colors in the new state flag.
Some people want other animals or symbols to represent the state.
The loon and the north star weren't the only symbols Minnesotans seem to identify with. A buck appeared on multiple flags, as well as canoes and lots of pine trees. Many people incorporated the letter M on the flag or the included Minnesota's puzzle piece shape. One flag had a giant mosquito on the front in the style of California's bear state flag. Let's swat that one out of the competition, please!
Many were downright silly, but still very Minnesotan.
Picture this: an all-white state flag blowing in the wind with the word "BAYG" across it in black letters. That's supposedly the way Minnesotans pronounce the thing you carry out of a grocery store. While that submission isn't likely to get serious consideration by members of the commission, it's one of a handful that poked fun at our Minnesotan peculiarities. One flag swapped in a pan of hot dish for the state seal. Another included three grey ducks, because Minnesotans say "grey duck" when everybody else says "goose" after "duck, duck..." One person thinks their dog is important enough for the state flag.
It's cold here.
Many of the flags worked a snowflake into the design, or used the color white to represent the snow. One flag just said: "Cold like Minnesota" across the front.
Some people don't want the flag to change.
A handful of people submitted photos of the current state flag, making their preference clear. Some submissions tweaked the current flag design by swapping out the controversial imagery in the state seal — a white settler plowing a field as a Native American man rides off into the sunset — with a loon in the state seal, or their puppy dog. Others maintained the state's motto, l'etoile du nord, on their flag submissions but got rid of the seal itself.
"dish" - Google News
November 09, 2023 at 04:03AM
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Loons, lakes and hot dish: State flag submissions say a lot about our identity as Minnesotans - Star Tribune
"dish" - Google News
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