The Minnesota Flag Submissions: Best and Funniest

By Mihir Khurana, sophomore writing coach

If you had to pick out the Minnesota state flag from all 50, would you be able to do it? Other than the big red “MINNESOTA” on it, there’s nothing really special about it. For reference, here’s our current flag.

Yeah. Not great. It’s just our state seal on a blue background. Not only does it look pretty unappealing, but it’s also very confusing to look at. There’s just so much going on, like the three different years, some pioneer farming, a Native American riding a horse, and the decoration of the pink-and-white lady’s slipper, our state flower.

But that’s when the Minnesota State Emblems Redesign Committee comes in. Essentially, anyone over the age of 18 could submit a flag to be reviewed by said committee. And the results are great. That’s why I’m going to go through the best and the funniest flags that I have seen.

THE BEST:

First, the one that I think represents the needs of a flag perfectly: submission F29:

I think it’s amazing to look at, for one. The colors work beautifully together, it’s simple but not basic, and it represents the perfect things. Minnesota is a snowy state, obviously, so why not represent it with a snowflake? And it’s a northern state, so why not represent it with the north star?

Another common theme is the loon, our favorite state bird. One of my favorites that I’ve seen is F105.

Not only does it keep the same north star idea, but it adds the loon as well. I especially like the waves and colors in this flag. If I had to fly a flag, this one would be a pretty good choice I think.

Another flag I want to shout out is F1496. It even comes with a little guide on its meaning.

My favorite part of this one is the M for Minnesota. I think it is elegantly put in, and helps tie everything together without putting “MINNESOTA” on it. The nods to our native tribes, forests, snow, and north star, all make it a comprehensive representation of our state, and it looks good!

Let’s be real, though. Good flags are boring. The real fun of scrolling through all the flags is seeing all the not-so-good flags people have submitted.

THE FUNNIEST:

There are a lot of designs people have submitted, like F156: a picture of someone’s dog. I think it’s art. Up there with Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. To be honest, for Minnesota, it’s not even that bad of a representation.

Dogs are not the only animal chosen to represent the Land of 10,000 Lakes. We also have mosquitoes! This flag is F59.

This flag is a spoof of the California flag, which features a bear instead of a mosquito. I think it’s pretty accurate to the Minnesota Experience. 

And then there’s F253:

It’s honestly pretty fun to look through the website at all the flag submissions. In total there are 2,123, so plenty to look through. 

WHY IT MATTERS:

This whole flag submission thing isn’t just for fun. In fact, one of these flags should become our new state flag as soon as January 1st, 2024! (It should be one of the 3 ones I said was best).