Picture Minnesota's state flag: the colors, the images, the lettering.
Now draw it.
The Minnesota flag — a blue background featuring the state seal, which shows a Native American on horseback riding away from a white settler plowing a field — has long been a source of controversy. Legislators repeatedly have introduced bills aimed at rethinking both the seal and flag, though the measures have stalled in committee or failed to get a hearing.
Rep. Peter Fischer, DFL-Maplewood, started working on the issue after hearing concerns from high school students. The state flag doesn't meet design standards that scholars agree upon, including simplicity — using just a few colors — no lettering or seals and distinctiveness from other flags.
"When I was growing up, we all used to draw the American flag, but we never did the state flag because how do you draw that?" Fischer said. "You can't."
Fischer joined forces with Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, on a bill that would establish a State Emblems Redesign Commission to recommend new designs for the flag and seal.
Other states have taken similar steps, including Massachusetts, where Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last year signed a bill forming a commission on the state's seal and motto. And across the country — including in Minnesota — debate continues over symbols, statues and art from centuries past.
Those historical images provide a learning opportunity and a chance to move forward, said Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, who sponsored the Senate version of the flag and seal bill.
