Skip to content

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025

Could Minnesota’s governor order the former state flag to be flown at the Capitol?

Shadi Bushra, MinnPost
no

Minnesota law requires that the official state flag be flown at the state Capitol.

A new official flag was adopted last year after its proposal by the State Emblems Redesign Commission. It replaced a flag that had flown since 1983 but had been criticized for its depiction of Indigenous peoples. 

The law says that the “official state flag shall be flown on the State Capitol grounds at all times between sunrise and sunset.” 

Could a governor change the official Minnesota flag?

Again, no.

According to the same law: “The design of the state flag as certified in the report of the State Emblems Redesign Commission, as established by Laws 2023, chapter 62, article 2, section 118, is adopted as the official state flag.”

In order to change the statute, the Legislature would have to adopt and pass an amendment, and the governor would have to sign it.  

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

See all fact briefs

MinnPost is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces thoughtful, in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota. Through our reporting, we take readers beyond the headlines and deep into the issues that matter through our public-service journalism, empowering them to engage in the politics and policy-making shaping Minnesota’s future.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.