Minnesota’s flag fight landed in a small Minneapolis-area city where Champlin’s mayor is openly defying the statewide redesign, arguing the new banner was shoved through by insiders and that citizens should get the final say. The mayor and some local leaders say the old 1983 flag better reflects state history and that the redesign process was exclusionary and wasteful. Lawmakers in St. Paul are now watching a grassroots backlash that mixes budget complaints, local control arguments, and cultural concerns. The debate is raw, political, and centered on who decides what symbolizes Minnesota.
Champlin Mayor Ryan Sabas says the response from residents has been intense and unambiguous, and he speaks for a town dug in on the old flag. He insisted, “in my nearly 10 years of being on the city council in Champlin and going on four years as mayor of this town, I have never heard from more people on any one issue than I did about the Minnesota state flag.” That kind of local pressure has pushed Champlin to keep flying the earlier banner despite statewide pressure to adopt the redesign.
The redesign itself was overseen by a 13-member commission created by the Democratic-controlled legislature in 2023, and opponents say the new look is too plain and even invites awkward comparisons. Critics have noted a resemblance to Somalia’s national flag and linked the controversy to wider frustrations in the state after a major fraud scandal that heavily involved the Somali immigrant community. To many critics, flag aesthetics are secondary to how the change was handled and who was left out of the conversation.
Sabas points to clear local opposition and to the cost of swapping flags across towns and cities. He said, “without any question” there is at least a two-to-one majority in favor of keeping the earlier 1983 version of the state flag, and he blasted replacement costs, noting the $40,000 price tag for Champlin alone. Those dollars and the process itself are central to the mayor’s call for reopening the issue and putting it to a statewide vote.
“These are the people’s flagpoles. This is the people’s decision,” he said bluntly, framing the dispute as a matter of local choice versus top-down mandates. The older flag, with its blue field and detailed state seal including a farmer and an American Indian figure, carries historical weight for many residents. The new design leans into a simplified silhouette of Minnesota on a light blue field with an eight-point North Star, a clean look that supporters say modernizes the symbol.
The commission defended its work, saying it relied on broad outreach and a design contest, and offered a formal explanation of its process. In its final report to the Minnesota legislature, the Minnesota State Emblems Redesign Commission said that “through extensive public input, a design contest that drew over 2,500 entries, and many hours of deliberations,” the commission had “created designs that reflect the spirit of Minnesota — the people, the land and water, and the history of our state.” Still, dissenters argue the commission’s reach and representation were limited in practice.
On the political front, some Republican lawmakers and local officials argue the commission represented only a sliver of the population and that special interests drove decisions. Minnesota Sen. Mark Koran said the commission only represented “about 13 percent of Minnesota’s population.” He added that “Native Americans, Hispanic, LGBT, you name it, every special group was identified,” and argued that the setup reflected a pattern of governance that sidelines ordinary citizens.
Koran called the flag fight small in appearance but big in meaning, saying it has energized people who feel their voices were ignored. He warned that the redesign “was a process that reflected almost how all of [Minnesota] legislation has been implemented.” For many residents, the flag debate has become a proxy for broader concerns about representation and respect.
Locally, Champlin’s city council voted to continue flying the original flag and city leaders are pressing for a statewide remedy. Council member Tim Huttner held a roundtable, reporting that an informal sample of attendees produced “100 percent” support for keeping the original banner. When asked his personal view, Huttner said plainly, “I don’t have an opinion. I work for you.”
Mayor Sabas stresses that the legal path exists to revisit the decision and to do so in a way that puts the public front and center. He argued that “Two years ago, the governor and the Democrats had full power of the House, Senate, and the governor’s seat. They chose they wanted to change the state flag, which they legally have the ability to do that. But instead of bringing this to the House, through the Senate and all voting on it, they picked select members of a committee and that’s who chose the flag.” Now he wants the governor and legislators to correct course and let citizens weigh in directly.
As local leaders press their case, Sabas urged unity and a final say from Minnesotans, appealing across party lines. He said, “I’ve always felt that he’s someone who does listen to me when I have something to say.” He added, “So, I challenge the governor in his last year of being governor of the state of Minnesota to really find a way to unite,” and called for a solution that brings together Republicans, Democrats, and everyone else in the state.
