Some communities won’t fly new state flag: ‘It’s not a greater Minnesota flag’

Old Glory is the only flag flying outside Detroit Lakes City Hall. You won’t see the Minnesota state flag — the retired one or the new one that a number of communities refuse to hoist on flagpoles.

Minnesota’s new state flag was divisive from the start, especially in deep red, rural areas. The flag redesign process sparked intense Republican-led opposition as the DFL-controlled Legislature formed a commission in 2023 to replace the old flag. Some counties passed resolutions rejecting the new design before it was adopted last year. Now some cities are voting against flying it.

“I think part of it is people think the new flag is ugly,” said Detroit Lakes Mayor Matt Brenk. “Some people think the old flag was racist. I mean, there’s all sorts of reasons that people are picking a side on this deal.”

Detroit Lakes is the latest city to oppose flying the new state flag in north-central Minnesota, where you’re more likely to see the old banner on front porches, farms and lakefront properties.

“We were on the lake this weekend and noticed a lot of the old flags and a few new ones,” said Pequot Lakes Mayor Tyler Gardner. “They typically wouldn’t have had a state flag before. It used to just be the American flag.”

Pequot Lakes is still flying the retired state flag and doesn’t plan on raising the new one, Gardner said. “It drives us nuts that there’s a divisive argument over a flag, that, let’s be honest, it’s a state flag. Does anybody really look at them that much?”

Crosslake is also supporting the old state flag. In May, the council unanimously voted not to fly the new one. The cities are in Becker and Crow Wing counties, which also don’t fly the new state flag.

Only state buildings are required to fly the state flag.

It’s optional at city- and county-owned buildings: Some fly the old flag, many raised the new one, and some never flew the state flag.

Julie Ring, executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties, said in an email that she was unaware that any counties had taken action against the new state flag.

The League of Minnesota Cities said it doesn’t track flag activity, nor is it a topic on which it provides guidance or opinions.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office shares flag etiquette, but it wouldn’t weigh in on the cities and counties refusing to fly the new flag.

Crow Wing County was the first to pass a resolution against the flag design, followed by Nobles, Houston and McLeod. The cost associated with replacing flags was cited as a concern.

Even if a county opts out of supporting the official state flag, it is required in every courtroom. The 87 county courthouses are funded and overseen by the state as part of the judicial district court system.

Kyle Christopherson, state court spokesman, said judicial districts worked with each county separately to determine payments for flag and seal replacements in courtrooms. Some counties fronted the bill while most were paid for by the state.

The Ninth Judicial District, made up of 17 counties in northwest Minnesota, for example, paid for flag and seal replacements in all counties except Aitkin and Crow Wing.

County Administrator Deborah Erickson said Crow Wing spent $10,000 to replace the state seals and nine flags in the courthouse.

She sees the new state flag flying outside the Brainerd fire station on her drive to work. The county decided not to hoist the new flag at its veterans memorial, where the retired flag previously flew.

Many jurisdictions didn’t switch over to the new flag for practical, not political, reasons. In Dodge County, officials decided to use up their remaining stock of old flags.

“It’s just until the current supplies run out, then we would make the conversion,” said County Administrator Jim Elmquist.

The average outdoor flag lasts up to 90 days, depending on weather. A few old flags are still flying, but Elmquist said they will be replaced by fall.

Faribault passed a resolution in February 2024 against the new state flag design, but the city hasn’t opposed flying it since, said city spokesman Brad Phenow.

“Now we’ve been following suit, and if we know when a flag needs to be replaced, we replace it with a new one,” he said.

The former state flag displayed the old state seal, which showed a white settler plowing a field while looking at a Native American man riding toward him on horseback. The imagery dates back to when Minnesota was still a territory and is viewed as a celebration of the idea that settlers were destined to take over the land.

Tribes criticized that image as racist and it has long been the subject of controversy. High school students first brought these concerns to state lawmakers in 2017, but a redesign push didn’t take hold until recently.

A 13-member commission was given four months in late 2023 and a budget of $35,000 to redesign the flag and seal.

They sifted through thousands of flag submissions from the public and narrowed it down to a finalist while making a few tweaks. The winner was a deep blue abstract shape of Minnesota with a white eight-pointed star — a nod to the state’s motto, “Star of the North” — next to a block of light blue to represent Minnesota’s abundance of water.

The old flag was adopted in 1957, while the state seal represented Minnesota for most of the state’s 166-year history. Both were replaced in 2024 on May 11 — Statehood Day.

Crosslake Mayor Jackson Purfeerst cited the Native American imagery as a reason the city voted to continue flying it.

“We are flying the original Minnesota state flag because of how rich Crosslake’s history is with Native Americans and the tribes,” Purfeerst said in a video on Facebook that garnered more than 500 comments of praise. “We have multiple Indian burial grounds all over town. We had one of the biggest battles of Native Americans on Rush Lake. ... We are honoring our history, we are honoring our culture, and we are honoring who came before us.”

In Babbitt, on the eastern edge of the Iron Range, the City Council first approved a measure opposing the new flag in 2024. It voted in February against flying the new flag, a decision that Councilor Jim Lassi says has garnered much community support.

“Historically, we’ve probably had one of the most beautiful flags out of all 50 states,” Lassi said. “You could tell right away that it represents Minnesota,” with lakes and showy lady’s slippers woven into the design.

Lassi said the new flag is “ugly” and caters to “wokeness.”

Detroit Lakes went back and forth on the new flag.

In March, the council voted in support of flying it, but then came backlash from residents and some council members. They voted again in May to not fly it, then in June decided not to fly either state flag after a tie-breaking vote from the mayor.

Brian Ahlsten, who lives in Detroit Lakes and previously lived in the Twin Cities, said at the June council meeting that the new state flag doesn’t represent rural Minnesota.

“Some have tried to turn this into a left vs. right issue,” he said. “This is more of a Twin Cities vs. greater Minnesota issue. … This flag serves to drive a wedge between us. It’s a Twin Cities flag. It’s not a greater Minnesota flag.”

Wendy Spry, who serves on the council and is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation, said the flag was changed for a reason.

“This council turned its back on unity and welcomeness,” she said.

Tourists will still flock to Detroit Lakes for the holiday weekend, Mayor Brenk said, and many won’t notice the absence of state flags.

“Maybe,” he said, “the council should have voted to fly both.”

Jana Hollingsworth, Trey Mewes and Jp Lawrence of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.