New Minnesota state flag? Crow Wing County Board would rather keep the old flag flying

The Crow Wing County Board would prefer that Minnesota keep its old flag — and plans to officially voice its displeasure over the redesigned flag to the governor and state lawmakers.

County Commissioner Paul Koering noted his opposition to the new flag at a board meeting Tuesday, adding that he also received phone calls from constituents who felt similarly.

"I have heard a lot of displeasure," Koering said. "It feels like we're whitewashing our history because somebody is offended by something on the flag, which I don't understand at all."

The five-member board plans to vote Jan. 2 on a resolution that would prompt the county to send a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and state legislators to express their opposition.

The move does not have any concrete impact on the state's flag adoption process, but Koering and fellow commissioners said they think it's important to have a symbolic resolution.

"I think it's a great idea to do a resolution that probably doesn't mean anything," he said in the meeting.

Reached by phone Thursday, Koering reiterated his reasoning for taking the board action: He wants to keep the old flag, and he has heard the same from constituents and fellow board members.

Koering went on to say he wishes more officials were willing to state publicly how they feel about major decisions made by the government.

"There's just a lot of people that are in elected office that are so afraid to speak up because they don't want the backlash," he said in the interview.

Minnesota's old state flag and seal have drawn criticism for decades over the controversial depiction of Native Americans, many interpreting it as racist. That, along with criticism that the flag doesn't work well from a design perspective, led the state to pick new concepts for the seal and the flag.

The state's commission finalized those decisions this month, and the new flag is expected to fly above government buildings starting May 11.

The old seal, which was also on the old flag, shows a Native American man riding off into the sunset on a horse, away from a white settler plowing a field. The secretary of state's website says the man "represents the great American Indian heritage of the state."

Two local historians said in interviews that the imagery is racist and that it was intended to show white settlers pushing Native Americans out of the area.

Anita Gaul, a history instructor at Minnesota West Community and Technical College who was vice chair of the state's commission to pick a new flag, said she believes it's important that a flag unite people.

"This is a flag that divides us. … It does not commemorate or celebrate the best parts of us," Gaul said of the old flag. "It celebrates some of the darkest parts of our path."

But Koering said he thinks there's nothing wrong with the flag; he sees it as white and Native American people living in harmony.

During the board meeting, he said he sees the flag as a historical symbol that should be preserved, later relating that to his opposition to the wave of Civil War Confederate statues being torn down in 2017.

"As soon as somebody's offended, we feel like we have to either tear down a statue or we have to change the flag that we've had for the last 60 years," Koering said. "We've got to stop doing that."

Gaul disagreed with Koering's assessment of a new flag eliminating history.

"When I decide to repaint my house, I'm not changing my house. I'm not fundamentally altering it. I'm just putting on a new coat of paint," she said.

Gaul and fellow local historian Bill Lindeke said the real meaning of the flag is conveyed in a poem by Mary Eastman, wife of Seth Eastman, whose drawing inspired the seal. The poem begins with "Give way, young warrior, thou and thy steed give way," before proclaiming that the settlers have taken control of the land.

"The white man claims them now," the poem later states.

Crow Wing County Commissioners Steve Barrows and Doug Houge concurred with Koering's assessment during the meeting and said they also want a resolution to oppose the new flag.

"I don't see the sense in it," Barrows said. "I'm very proud of the current flag and the seal that we have, so I concur with you."