Fly some of Minnesota's rejected state flag designs, with help from Indiana company
MINNEAPOLIS — Depressed that your favorite Minnesota state flag design didn't make the cut? An Indiana company wants to offer you some solace.
Flags For Good, based in Indianapolis, announced Wednesday that it's "doing a limited run of the best, funniest, and most iconic flags" from Minnesota's quest to replace its state flag.
RELATED: Commission adopts new state seal, narrows flag designs to top three
But don't get your hopes up if the "hotdish" flag, or any of the ones featuring loons shooting lasers out of their eyes is what you fancy. Flags For Good is only selling six of the designs, including the "North Star Flag" that first appeared in 1989, which the company has been selling for years.
RELATED: Designer of new Minnesota state seal "honored" the commission chose his work
"We will continue to produce the North Star Flag and its variants into the future as a Minnesota Flag with a long history of pride and usage," said Flags For Good's Michael Green. "The committee's dismissal of this design with such a large adoption already existing was sad to see."
The black-and-blue version of the "North Star Flag" is also being offered, as well as the "Starflake," "Great Lakes Pride Flag," "Duluth Flag" and the "Menancing Loon" flag.
Flags For Good donates a portion of each flag sale to charity.
The State Emblems Redesign Commission received more than 2,000 flag designs in the past six months and narrowed down the field to three finalists on Tuesday. The commission recently settled on a finalist for the state seal.
RELATED: Why are there no loons on Minnesota's new state flag finalists?
According to state statute, the new designs "must accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities." However, "symbols, emblems, or likenesses that represent only a single community or person, regardless of whether real or stylized, may not be included in a design."
Calls for changing the flag and seal have been growing for years, with proponents stating the main image on the current flag, introduced in 1957, and the seal, created in 1861, includes racist imagery.
RELATED: What you need to know about the new Minnesota state flag
Both depict a White settler tilling the land as an Indigenous man on horseback rides off into the distance.
The commission has until Jan. 1, 2024, to complete a report with the finalists for flag and seal, and both will make their debut on May 11, 2024, which is Minnesota's Statehood Day.
NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is Dec. 12, 2023.
