The flag of the state of Minnesota, an example of excellent vexillological design

I have been a fan of vexillology for many years, and in all this time I have seen some flags whose designs I have loved.

The flags of US states and cities that are inspired by Spanish flags
The British origin of the characteristic national flag of the United States of America

In vexillology, it is often said that there are certain elements that make a good flag design. In 2020, the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) identified five characteristics of a good flag design:

• Simplicity. "The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory."
• Symbolism. "The flag's images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes."
• Few colors. "Limit the number of colors on the flag to three which contrast well and come from the standard color set."
• Without letters or seals. "Never use writing of any kind or an organization's seal."
• Be distinctive or be related. "Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections."

There are good flags that don't meet all of these requirements, but the best are undoubtedly those that meet all five. And of course, the worst flags meet none of them.

An example of poor flag design is the one you can see here. It's the former flag of the state of Minnesota, in the Midwest of the United States. This flag was in effect from 1983 to 2024. It had three other flags before it with similar errors. It is a flag with text, with a seal, with a multitude of colors and with a design very similar to the flags of other US states that also show their seal on a blue background and/or the name of the state: Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Minnesota's old flag received a lot of criticism for its complexity. There was also some rather ridiculous criticism for the depiction of Native Americans in the state seal, which was featured on the flag. Eventually, the various criticisms led to the creation of a State Emblem Redesign Commission in 2023, which began work on a new design through a competition for proposals (the choice couldn't have been easy, as more than 2,000 designs were submitted) and which also included a redesign of the state seal.

The winning design was this one by graphic designer Ross Bruggink. I'm not crazy about the design, to be honest. The dark blue space is the most successful part, representing the shape of the state map, similar to the letter K. The star represents the state motto: "L'Étoile du Nord" (The North Star, in French). I'm not convinced by the star design because it combines four large points and four small ones (ideally, they should all be the same). The combination of three stripes on the right (white, green, and blue) broke up the simplicity of the flag.

On January 1, 2024, the Minnesota State Emblem Redesign Commission issued a report (see PDF) that included changes to Ross Bruggink's design, simplifying it:

This flag was officially adopted by the state of Minnesota on May 11, 2024, immediately becoming one of the most praised state flags in the United States. The final design meets the five requirements for a flag: a simple design that any child can draw, clear symbolism referencing the state's motto and geographic shape, only three colors (and two different combinations of blue, which is unusual for a flag but looks very nice), no text or seals, and a very unique design, with few similarities to other flags.

The commission's report included this grayscale version of the flag, demonstrating that even in this format, the flag is a very valid design. The report also included the proportions and measurements of the new flag, which you can see below.

It should be noted that The State Emblems Redesign Commission sought advice from NAVA on this redesign. One of the members of that vexillological association, Ted Kaye, informed the commission members of the precepts of flag design at the beginning of their work. Apparently, this advice had a happy result: a flag that exemplifies excellent vexillological design.

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Images: State Emblems Redesign Commission.