Politics | Page 7

White side of the Minnesota state flag, ca. 1900

The white side of the Minnesota state flag, ca. 1900.

Minnesota state flag, ca. 1898

Minnesota state flag made in Minneapolis ca. 1898 by Pauline and Thomane Fjelde, the makers of the original 1893 flag. The Fjelde sisters presented the flag to the Fifteenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

First Minnesota state flag, 1893

The first Minnesota state flag, designed by Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis and embroidered by Norwegian immigrants Pauline and Thomane Fjelde. The flag was exhibited and won a gold medal at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893. The flag’s design incorporates symbolic elements around the state seal, including pink-and-white lady’s slippers (Cypripedium reginae); a red ribbon; the state motto, “L’Etoile du Nord” (the Star of the North); and three dates: 1819 (the year of the founding of Fort Snelling), 1893 (the year of the flag’s adoption), and 1858 (the year of Minnesota statehood). The nineteen yellow stars refer to Minnesota’s place as the nineteenth state admitted to the Union.

Minnesota state flag, 1983–2023

The design of the Minnesota state flag adopted in 1983 and used until 2023. The nineteen yellow stars, which form a star themselves, refer to Minnesota’s place as the nineteenth state admitted into the union.

Minnesota State Flag

What good is a state flag? According to flag expert Lee Herold of Rochester, Minnesota, a good flag creates a distinctive brand. Ideally, Minnesota’s flag should also create unity, representing our state’s values everywhere it flies. But this has not always been the case. The people of Minnesota have altered their state flag’s design in the past to meet changing needs. They continued to do so in 2023, when public input informed a redesign commission’s choice for a new flag.

1918 campaign-event poster (St. Paul)

Poster advertising an event in St. Paul related to the Republic primary election of 1918. Published by John J. Willinger Company, 1918.

1918 campaign-event poster (Minneapolis)

Poster advertising an event at Arcadia Hall in Minneapolis related to the Republic primary election of 1918. Published by Hamann Press in June of 1918.