Otter Tail County community weighs no state flag amid design debate

Perham and other Otter Tail County communities are facing a third option in Minnesota’s flag debate: not choosing between the new design and the old one, but flying no state flag at all.

That choice has practical weight because Minnesota municipalities are not required by state law to fly any particular state flag. As city councils around the state reconsider their public symbols, the question has shifted from design preference to local governance, with the issue now reaching civic buildings, council chambers and school grounds that do not want to become the center of a larger fight.

The redesign saga began in 2023, when the Minnesota Legislature created the State Emblems Redesign Commission. The panel received 2,128 flag design submissions from Minnesotans before selecting the final banner that became official on May 11, 2024, Statehood Day. That morning, the new flag was raised over the Minnesota State Capitol at sunrise, while the outgoing 1983 flag was retired by the Minnesota National Guard and preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society.

Supporters of the change said the new flag was meant to reflect Minnesota’s North Star identity, its lakes and rivers, and its increasingly diverse communities. Critics never accepted the process or the final image. The old flag, based on an 1892 design and updated in 1983, came under fire in part because of the seal imagery showing a white farmer while a Native man rode away. Civil rights advocates and others argued that image symbolized the ousting of Native peoples.

By May 12, 2026, the backlash had spread well beyond Saint Paul. MPR News reported that at least 20 city councils had discussed the flag issue since the start of the year, and at least 15 cities had voted to fly the old flag. In some places, the debate has moved toward dropping the state banner entirely rather than choosing sides between old and new.

That broader split matters in Otter Tail County because it turns a symbol into a budget question. DFL lawmakers in 2026 proposed cutting municipal aid by 10% for cities or counties that fly a flag other than the official new Minnesota state flag. If adopted, the penalty would take effect in 2027, adding a financial consequence to decisions made at the local level.

For communities like Perham, the flag debate is no longer only about which design best represents Minnesota history. It is also about whether residents want their schools, city halls and public spaces pulled into a symbolic standoff at all.