Friday, July 8, 2016

Minnesota Flag History

By Jessica Naylor


Humans first came to Minnesota during the last ice age, following herds of a large game as glaciers melted. Long before the first Europeans arrived, Indians from as far away as 1,000 miles came to make ceremonial pipes from soft red pipestone carved from sacred quarries.

Some of those early Minnesota people carved pictures of humans, animals and weapons into rocks. Some of these carvings, called “petroglyphs,” are thousands of years old â€" and many are still visible today in Minnesota’s state parks, such as Jeffers Petroglyphs near Comfrey. Ancient burial mounds and unearthed objects like spear points are evidence that people lived here ages ago.

The design of the Minnesota Flag was adopted for the first time in 1893. The present Minnesota Flag is in use from 1st August 1983. The flag is also decorated with gold fringes and a golden border. There is another circle within the emblem, that depicts pictures from Minnesota's Great Seal of the State. This is encircled by 19 stars, which are arranged in 5 groups.The group at the top has 3 stars, whereas the other 4 groups have 4 stars each. At the bottom of this picture, the name of the state "Minnesota" is etched in red capital letters.

That flag was little used, in part because its design was not easy to manufacture in quantity. On March 19, 1957, a new design was established; the background of the flag, like that of many other state flags, was henceforth to be blue on both sides. The central design from the original flag of 1893 appeared in circular form on both sides of the new flag.

The water is representative of St. Anthony Falls and the Mississippi River, which symbolize transportation and commerce. Around the central picture is a red ribbon entwined within the branches of the state flower, the lady slipper. The ribbon shows three important dates of the state and has the state motto written on it: 'L'Etoile du Nord', meaning 'Star of the North'. 1818 was the year Fort Snelling was established as an outpost, 1858 was the year Minnesota was admitted to the United States and 1893 was the year the flag was officially adopted.

The Minnesota Flag is a bright blue flag that depicts the ideals of the state in the best manner. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Minnesota for the future.




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