Members of a commission tasked with creating new symbols for the state of Minnesota on Tuesday selected six final designs for a new state flag, and five finalists for a new state seal.

It’s another step toward the state replacing its symbols, which have long been criticized for their unmemorable design and depiction of white settlers displacing the area’s Native inhabitants.

Minnesota’s State Emblems Redesign Commission whittled down the six final flag designs from more than 2,600 public submissions it received in October. They adopted finalists after about six hours of discussion Tuesday afternoon and moved on to state seal finalists.

While the commission has more work to do, a few things appear certain at this point.

One: barring a major overhaul, the new flag probably won’t feature any loons. While many submissions featured the iconic black-and-white state bird, none made it to the final picks.

What will appear on the flag? All the final designs include the color blue and bear one or more stars. Other colors seen on designs are white, green and gold. All four are intended to be symbolic of Minnesota’s characteristics — its lakes and rivers, forests and snow. One designer tied the color gold to the state’s rich resources.

The 13-member emblems panel is required to finish its work by the end of this year, and the state will have to adopt a new seal and flag by May 11, unless lawmakers reject their recommendations.

While members had initially planned to adopt five flag finalists on Tuesday, they ended up choosing six. They adopted them unanimously, with one member absent for the vote.

Now that there are six flag finalists, the commission will now seek public input before making a final decision. The commission could also make further changes to the design it adopts.

Five seal choices were approved unanimously. All include stars or are centered around a star, except for the commission’s top pick, which as chance would have, centers around a loon.

Narrowing choices

On Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 designs selected by the 13 members were on display outside the commission’s hearing room at the Senate Office Building at the state Capitol complex. Members of the commission narrowed these down from designs they received during the October submission period.

From there, members then selected six of their favorites, narrowing submissions to 15 flags before further narrowing the choices. Through this process, they arrived at the following choices:

The No. 1 choice, which had the backing of nine members, was the “L’etoile du Nord flag,” a blue flag with a white snowflake over a yellow four-point star.

One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

The choices with the second amount of support had the backing of eight members each. One was a blue-white and green flag with a white star. The navy section on the left mimics the shape of Minnesota. The other has an eight-point star meant to evoke the shape of a snowflake.

One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)
One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

In third place with seven members’ support was a blue and white wave-like pattern symbolizing the significance of water to the state. It topped the first round of picks on Tuesday. According to the submission, it “pays tribute to Minnesota’s diverse and dynamic landscape, with wisps of snow, clouds, and aurora reflected by pristine, bending waters, and a guiding, four-pointed North Star inspired by the symbols and astronomy of Dakota and Ojibwe tribes.”

Explore Minnesota Tourism Executive Director Lauren Bennett McGinty called it “simple and eye-catching.”

One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

Others were less impressed. Rep. Bjorn Olson, a Republican from Fairmont serving as a non-voting member of the committee, said the flag already looked like it was blowing in the wind as a still image and would not appeal to future generations.

In the fourth tier with six members’ support was a flag with green trees, a blue sky and a yellow star in Ojibwe quilt style.

One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

Also in fourth was a design with a white star on a blue background above a green bottom half. The green and blue are separated by a white line to symbolize the state’s abundant winter activities.

One of the finalists for the Minnesota state flag design as selected by the State Emblems Redesign Committee in St. Paul on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

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