If someone wants to see my inner “boomer” (a derogatory term for a supposedly out-of-touch middle-aged person) come out, it is over superficial changes to non-offensive items because the reason for changing said item isn’t justified by past events or by practical reasons. In this case, the Minnesota state flag. Instead of the old state flag which was generally forgettable because it mixed into the background of other state flags, the state legislature decided to waste taxpayer funds financing a change to the state flag because of some assumed offense or desire to conform the flag to the most rudimentary standards imaginable. As the middle of 2024 is coming around and people are finding new ways to despise their neighbors politically, I figured I would try to unify the masses in condemning the new flag for being both unnecessary and a downgrade.
Starting off with what the flag is currently, it is a dark blue banner containing a star with a light blue continuation to the right side of the flag. If that sounds basic, it’s because it is. I will have a video for more context in the sources, but the general consensus among some mapmakers is that simple automatically means good when in reality one has to ask the purpose of what the flag is. When justifying the change to the Mississippi state flag via ballot referendum a few years back, that made sense from an optics and economic point. Having a Confederate battle cross in your state flag insinuates that your state government is openly racist (something Mississippi has enough of a hard time refuting against), while the presence of the battle cross makes attracting businesses harder because corporate America doesn’t want to invest where there are allegations of racism in a more business-casual (aka less risk averse) economic environment. The main reason why businesses are still struggling to move to Mississippi largely deals with the infrastructure for sustaining an economic renovation is underfinanced, but having a racist battle flag removed from the state capitol does help move some softer business clientele into the state.
The Minnesota flag is less clear regarding the reasoning with the main justification being something related to the suffering of Native Americans and the flag allegedly being a cluttered mess. One can make the argument that a piece of art may be offensive to the present, but history is learned best from guided exposure of what times were like. From a surface level observation, was the original flag a beautiful design? Probably not. That being said, not every piece of art is going to inherently be a beautiful or timely piece of appreciated art, but you keep the art around because it serves a historical purpose. The Confederate battle flag in the Mississippi design is easy to remove from state flag designs because it symbolizes treachery against the United States government proper. The old Minnesota flag just represents something that happened, as terrible as it was, where the main goal should be to teach what is happening in the flag and encourage young people not to make the same mistakes as generations before. The new flag and implementing it everywhere in Minnesota just costs money that ironically comes in the form of taxes against minorities who need to be lifted out of poverty, not taxed more to appease the burden of white liberal guilt.
Nevertheless, I can’t make the decision for Minnesota whether they made the right decision. Obviously, I don’t think they did. I will leave you, the reader, with a question to consider when considering the importance of changing the state flags: how long will this new state flag stay before suggestions to change it come along? This is the type of do-nothing legislation that some state lawmakers love to fixate on because it is so low profile that it can possibly pass the legislative chamber. This is instead of actual issues such as education, infrastructure, transportation, improving government services, etc. Maybe there was some heartfelt conversation about the old Minnesota flag, but it’s difficult to get the same riled up feeling about what is a historical depiction versus a racist symbol of treachery or even Colorado’s soft nod to the fasces in their state flag.
Sources: 2020 Mississippi flag referendum – Wikipedia
The Conservatarian Millennial 