Minnesota is officially flying its new flag. What happens to the old one?

Minnesota officially raises its new state flag

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota officially adopted its new state flag on Saturday, making the old flag history. So what happens to the old flag now that it is obsolete? 

The old flag, which the Minnesota Legislature adopted in 1957, will no longer fly on any official government building.

Before the new flag was raised at sunrise, the outgoing state flags were retired by the Minnesota National Guard.

The Minnesota Department of Administration says it planned for the new flags to coincide with its flag replacement schedule. 

The Minnesota Historical Society will preserve the old flag that flew over the Capitol and Court of Honor on the Capitol Mall. The other retired flags at the Capitol will be decommissioned consistent with the U.S. flag code.

The state had not officially provided any guidance on the disposal of the old flags but a spokesperson for the Minnesota Courts system said it suggested that judicial districts contact their local government agencies to “inquire about any potential disposal efforts or programs” or ship them to the Judicial Center in St. Paul so they can be burned.

The Minnesota Historical Society says it does not currently have any plans to display the retiring flag.

As for the old state seal, which is often on official government documents, it can be used until the supply is exhausted or until January 2025, whichever comes first. Information about the old seal will be retained in a collection kept by the Minnesota Historical Society.

For years, there had been discussion about changing the state flag. Not only did it violate the tenets of “good flag design” by flag experts, but some had issues with the imagery on the flag, which featured a White settler tilling land as an Indigenous man rides horseback.

The redesign commission spent four months considering more than 2,100 submissions from the public. 

The new flag includes two shades of blue, which is a nod to Minnesota’s waters; an eight-pointed star for the “North Star State” that mirrors the design on the state capitol rotunda floor; and an abstract depiction of the shape of the state.

Flag expert Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association, told WCCO in December he gives the final design an A+.

Some Minnesota Republican lawmakers wanted to halt the new flag’s rollout and give Minnesotans a chance to provide more feedback on the design but were unsuccessful in their efforts.