After months of hearings, the panel tasked with creating new symbols for Minnesota has settled on a flag concept, but more work lies ahead as they hone in on the final details.

Members of the State Emblems Redesign Commission on Friday voted in support of a design inspired by a submission from 24-year-old Luverne resident Andrew Prekker, though many tweaks are already in the works.

In original form, it’s a flag with white, green and light blue horizontal stripes and a navy blue section on the left that mimics the shape of Minnesota. In that section is an eight-point white star meant to symbolize the state’s motto “Star of the North” as well as unity in a diverse land.

The white stripe symbolizes snow, the green stripe represents nature and agriculture, and the light blue stripe represents the state’s waters — from its more than 10,000 lakes to the Mississippi River. Prekker says the “swallow tail” design is unique among flags of the world, and that he wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

Selected from more than 2,000 submissions

The design was selected from more than 2,000 public submissions and multiple rounds of elimination by the 13-member commission. Debate Friday centered around the final three designs and commission chair Luis Fitch said they eventually settled on the design with the abstract shape of Minnesota due to its “simplicity” and “directness.”

Ahead of voting to whittle down choices from the final three, Fitch said he hoped future generations would embrace the new flag.

“We’re not going to be able to make everybody happy,” he said. “The whole idea since day one for me was to make sure that we can do a flag that unites us (instead of) separating us.”

Some members said they felt the final design concept framework was overly simplistic though appeared open-minded with alternative variant designs available. They’ll meet again on Tuesday to zero in on a final design, which they have to do by the end of the month.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting, independent designers Tyler and Jenae Michaletz helped the committee polish the three design finalists, and suggested changes including shifting the points on the star and eliminating the green stripe. They also pitched a version of the flag with a solid light blue section rather than stripes, a concept now up for consideration by the committee.

The state will have to adopt a new seal and flag by May 11, unless state lawmakers reject their recommendations.

A few changes

While the final design will resemble Prekker’s concept, a few changes are all but certain.

The white star on the lefthand side of the flag likely will have eight points, but it will not be the shape of the original design, commission members decided. Instead, the star could more closely resemble the one found on the floor of the Capitol rotunda, or another shape roughly resembling four “M” letters.

The final flag design came after multiple rounds of voting. In November the committee settled on six designs, and earlier this week they narrowed the field down to three.

Designs eliminated Friday included a flag with a blue and white wave-like pattern symbolizing the significance of water to the state, which some said featured hidden loons, the state bird, and 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.

State seal

In addition to the final flag framework, the commission on Friday also released the finalized state seal, which they modified earlier in the week.

On December 12, 2023, the State Emblems Redesign Commission voted to adopt design modifications to the official Great Seal of the State of Minnesota. The design is subject to further changes and final approval by the Commission. (Courtesy of the State Emblems Redesign Commission)

The design still centers around a loon, Minnesota’s state bird, though its eyes are now red and the state motto, “L’etoile du Nord,” French for “Star of the North,” has been replaced with the Dakota “Mni Sota Makoce,” a phrase meaning “Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds.” The phrase is where Minnesota gets its name.

When members meet again on Tuesday morning they’ll continue to discuss the position of the star, the proportions of the blue Minnesota shape on the left-hand side of the flag and which colors will remain. Versions of the final flag concept omit the color green and possibly the white stripe.

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