Salaam Alaikum, Minnesota!

Effective May 11, 2024

I just looked into this story after seeing a post about it on Facebook.  Minnesota has chosen a new flag. It's a decent flag in my opinion, and better than any of the five other finalists that the redesign commission had chosen. Problematic cultural issues aside, which are by far enough to merit a redesign, the old flag was just an aesthetic mess. It was not only ugly and indistinguishable from any number of similar state flags, it managed to be both busy and boring.  

The outgoing flag, 1957 revision 

So, good on Minnesota for changing it.  Now the state has a distinct, striking, and streamlined flag.  Ted Kaye, who literally wrote the book on flag design, gives it an A+.

Kaye, of the North American Vexillological Association, considers it to be one of the ten best US state flags.  A far cry from 2001, when the same Association named the previous flag one of the ten worst.   If I recall correctly, the old flag breaks at least 4 of Kaye's rules for effective flag design (it does).

Critics of the new flag are crying foul, saying it's wokeism run amok.  Some even claim it represents a kind of Somali "takeover" of Minnesota, because of a perceived likeness to the flag of Jubaland.  Jubaland is a part of Somalia, and Minneapolis has a large Somali community, the largest outside of Somalia; when I called the High School in Minneapolis, where my son did a year abroad, one could continue one's call in Somali. 

Talk of takeover and nativist, "great replacement" fear-mongering is ironic, because the old flag literally depicted the actual historical takeover of what is now Minnesota from the Native Americans....an Indian rides away as Sven sews his newly stolen fields...

Flag of Jubaland, home of Minnesota's new overlords

But like removing confederate imagery from southern states' flags, it's time; our  political symbols must reflect, respect, and represent all of our citizens. And man, the old flag was an eyesore. I can't imagine anyone actually being proud of it. Time will tell for the new one, but at least they've given the people something to work with.