On August 6, 2024, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate for the 2024 presidential election. As conservative commentators on X quickly critiqued Walz's political record, one particular user made a strange claim surrounding Minnesota's state flag.
According to the claim, which was supported by several other social media users, Walz altered the design of the Minnesota state flag in 2024 to resemble the national flag of Somalia. These critics implied that he had transformed Minnesota into a "New Somalia" and suggested he would do the same to the country if elected. The posts soon went viral and has left many confused.
Weird Claim
However, these claims are completely false as Walz did not change Minnesota's state flag to resemble Somalia's. Here's what actually occurred:
The old Minnesota flag featured the state seal, which depicted a white settler tilling land and an Indigenous man on horseback, on a blue background. Indigenous Minnesotans, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, found the seal and flag offensive to their heritage, believing it attempted to erase the historical record of settler violence against Native American groups.
Also, others pointed out that the old flag violated several principles of "good flag design" as outlined by the North American Vexillological Association.
In response, the Minnesota Legislature formed a commission in 2023 to redesign the state flag and seal.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, it took 10 legislative attempts to pass a bill for a new flag and seal.
Walz Only Signed the Bill Into law
Walz signed this bill into law, which was his only involvement in the redesign process. The commission received over 2,500 redesign proposals, ranging from serious to unserious, before narrowing it down to the top six designs, then three, and finally selecting a base design by Andrew Prekker.
Prekker's design featured three horizontal stripes of white, green, and light blue, with a navy blue stylized outline of Minnesota's shape on the left side of the flag and an eight-pointed star—representing the state's motto, "L'étoile du Nord," French for "The Star of the North"—centered within the outline.
The commission made slight adjustments to Prekker's design by simplifying the star and replacing the horizontal stripes with a solid light blue field, symbolizing the water of Minnesota's "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
A detailed report on the design is publicly available, and the new flag was officially displayed for the first time on May 11, 2024.
Also, there is a reason behind Somalia's reference in this wild claim. Minnesota is home to over 60,000 Somali Americans, the largest such community in the country.
Both flags do feature a star and a light blue field, but a side-by-side comparison shows that the designs are not at all similar.
Somalia's flag features a white, five-pointed star, symbolizing the five Somali homelands, set against a light blue background inspired by the United Nations, which supported Somalia's independence.
In contrast, Minnesota's flag features an eight-pointed star located within a simplified navy blue outline of the state.
Yes, there are some similarities but according to the commission's explanation, any resemblance is purely coincidental. Hence, the claim is false.
