The Minneapolis Flag (Image: City of Minneapolis)
A growing coalition wants to retire Minneapolis’ little-known city flag — and the acclaimed new state banner shows how a redesign can succeed.
The most common reaction surprised me most: a lot of you had no idea Minneapolis even has a flag. One reader wrote to the Hill & Lake Press to say she laughed out loud when I compared our city banner to the logo of a community and technical college.
I don’t say that to knock the designer, who created it in the 1950s, when the space race and a certain mid-century optimism about science shaped how a city wanted to see itself. That was a different Minneapolis. Times change, and so should the flag we fly over them.
The encouraging part is how many people wrote back not just to laugh, but to ask the same question I keep asking: So what do we do about it? That feedback is exactly why I’m returning to the subject, and why I’m more convinced than ever that this is a movement worth building.
A Longtime Champion
As it turns out, the movement is already underway. At the center of it is Dennis Fazio, a retired Bryn Mawr neighbor who has been pushing for a new city flag for years.
Fazio is a member of the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), the national organization of flag experts, and a serious enthusiast in his own right; he flies some 75 flags throughout the year.
More to the point, he has the time, the organizational background, and the patience for the unglamorous work of moving an idea through a city. He also has a direct line to the national experts who have guided dozens of cities and states through successful flag redesigns.
A Coalition Comes Together
For a long time Fazio made the case largely on his own, the lone flag enthusiast turning up at meetings.
That is changing. He has been sitting down with neighborhood associations, arts organizations and city leaders, and the response has grown noticeably warmer.
The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association has signaled its support, the city’s arts and culture leadership has been receptive, and several City Council members have voiced early interest.
Others are talking about joining forces, too. What started as one person’s idea is beginning to look like a group, and that is exactly the kind of broad, civic coalition that gets a city to act.
A Proven Model
There is a great local example to follow.
The new Minnesota state flag, adopted after a redesign that vexillologists rate among the best in the country, succeeded because the process was smart.
Lawmakers handed the work to a commission, gathered plenty of public input, and then got out of the way. No endless plebiscite, no design-by-bickering.
The result is a flag most people actually want to gather around, the kind that flew above crowds downtown this past winter, when the community needed a symbol to rally behind. Fazio and his allies want to follow that same playbook at the city level.
“A flag isn’t decoration. Its oldest purpose is to give people something to gather around.”
Why It Matters
A flag isn’t decoration. Its oldest purpose is to give people something to gather around.
Right now Minneapolis has a banner almost no one recognizes, while cities like Duluth and Crystal have adopted sharp new flags that put ours to shame.
A redesign done well could bring people together rather than divide them. Unlike the state flag debate, almost no one has a sentimental attachment to a city flag they have never seen.
The main objection is whether a city with serious priorities should spend any time on this at all. The coalition’s answer is that a unifying symbol is a real priority and that good design need not be expensive. The state spent roughly $35,000 on its redesign, much of it offset by volunteers and donated expertise. The same is possible here.
Widely considered the best-designed city flag in the US, Chicago, Illinois is a global vexillological masterpiece (above). It is celebrated for its sheer simplicity, deep civic symbolism, and immense popularity. Vexillologists and the public alike consistently rank Chicago at the top. In a landmark survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), American city flags are judged on strict design principles. Chicago routinely dominates these evaluations due to its brilliant layout and history.
(Image: City of Chicago; Wikipedia)
The city flag of Washington, D.C. features an iconic design that frequently tops the design rankings. The flag of the capital features two horizontal red bars and three red stars on a white background. Adopted in 1938, the design is brilliantly simple and beautifully adapted from George Washington’s ancestral coat of arms.
(Image: City of Washington, D.C.; Wikipedia)
Get Involved
Fazio’s plan is to build steadily through the summer and fall. In August, the Hill & Lake Press kids’ issue will bring flag design to local students, teaching them the simple rules of a great flag (it should be simple enough for a child to draw from memory) and printing what they create.
By September, the goal is to make the case that a redesign belongs in the city’s 2027 budget conversation. Between now and then, the coalition is looking for neighbors, organizations, and anyone who shares the itch to see Minneapolis fly something worthy of it.
If that’s you, Fazio and his group want to hear from you. Email newminneapolisflag@gmail.com to get involved, share ideas or just follow along. It is time to give this city a flag worth raising.
Craig Wilson is the editor of the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Lowry Hill.
