Year Adopted: 2024.

The Minnesota Legislature created a State Emblem Redesign Commission in 2023. The approved design was chosen from over 2100 submissions, the concept created by Andrew Prekker. On its left side, the flag contains a dark blue background with a white, 8-point star. One of the points of the star points north, representing the state’s motto “L’étoile du Nord.” The dark background is a stylized shape of the outline of the State of Minnesota, representing the land of Minnesota. The remainder of the flag is a solid, bright blue, representing water. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, the home of the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, Lake Superior, and the start of the Great Lakes Basin. (ref; sos.state.mn.us)

The earlier Minnesota state flag, adopted in 1957, was royal blue with the state seal in the center and was retired in May 2024.

Minnesota was annexed to the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Organized as the Minnesota Territory in 1849, it was admitted as the 23rd state in 1858. Various parts of current Minnesota were also part of other jurisdictions, including the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and the Territories of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Minnesota became a state in 1819.