Half Of Minnesotans Disapprove of New State Flag, Star Tribune Poll Finds

ST. PAUL, MN — A new statewide poll finds most Minnesotans are not warming to the state's redesigned flag two years after it was adopted.

The Minnesota Poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy for the Star Tribune and the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism, found 50 percent of registered voters disapprove of the new flag design, while just 30 percent approve and 20 percent remain unsure.

Support breaks sharply along geographic lines.

Residents of Hennepin and Ramsey counties lean toward approval, 45 percent to 30 percent. Outside the core metro, including in Twin Cities suburbs, disapproval climbs to 53 percent.

Minnesota officially replaced its flag in 2024, swapping a blue field bearing the state seal for a two-tone blue design with a white star, chosen through a statewide design competition.

The old seal depicted a white settler plowing a field while a Native American man rode away on horseback, imagery some tribes had criticized as racist.

The redesign was passed by a DFL-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Tim Walz, and opposition to it has tracked largely along partisan lines.

Several communities, including Inver Grove Heights, Elk River, Champlin and Crosslake, have voted to fly the old flag on city property instead.

The flag question was part of a broader poll that also found Walz's approval rating has hit its lowest point in six years.