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Earlier this year, Minnesota scrapped its historical state flag and replaced it with a new, more “inclusive” one. “Our [previous] flag is problematic,” said vice president hopeful and current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who led an expedited, 17-person commission to remove an image of a farmer and a Native American from the flag and replace it with an eight-point starburst often associated with a Babylonian goddess named Ishtar. Despite about half of Minnesotans reportedly disagreeing with the switch, they had little say in the matter. The commission reportedly changed the state flag without giving constituents an opportunity to vote.
I discovered this shocking fact while filming an educational children’s “unboxing” video about Minnesota’s history, citizens and unique contributions to America. When I found out that a small group of individuals changed a historical state flag without the consent of the people of Minnesota, I was outraged.
As an Armenian-American mom, I also can’t help but recognize that Minnesota’s newly featured eight-point star is identical to the star on the Ottoman Empire’s flag during the late 1800s — the flag that was active when Islamic Ottoman Turks began committing genocide on Christian Armenians in the area. Another flag that touts this same eight-point star? Azerbaijan — whose military ethnically cleansed indigenous Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh as recently as 2023.
TIM WALZ PREVIOUS FAR-LEFT STATEMENTS COME TO LIGHT
Minnesota’s previous flag featured a Native American on horseback to pay homage to indigenous people whose roots are deep and rich in the region. While advocates for the change accused the Native American depiction to be racist and controversial, retired Marine Lt. Col. Donna Bergstrom — a Minnesotan who happens to be of American Indian descent — stated on record that the new flag felt like an assault on her heritage’s historical and current contributions to the land and state.
The new Minnesota flag was approved without voter involvement. (State Emblems Redesign Commission/public domain)
How will children learn about the value and importance of Native Americans in the United States if their presence is removed from our most revered state symbols? They won’t.
The motto “L’Etoile du Nord” — the only French state motto in our nation, meaning “Star of the North” — was also included on the previous flag since Minnesota was once the northernmost state in the union and had deep French roots.
Advocates who replaced the words “L’Etoile du Nord” with the eight-point star claim the nickname and motto are still represented — but, the actual symbol of the North Star is visually very different from the equal eight-points we see flying at St. Paul’s capitol building today. Why replace America’s five-point star tradition with eight points now?
Minnesota isn’t the only state to eradicate its own history. Utah, Maine, Illinois and Massachusetts are also reportedly exploring ditching traditional designs that convey each state’s unique story for vague color blocks that are reminiscent of, well, totalitarian regimes.
Minnesota’s historical state flag was adopted in 1893 and just replaced under Democrat Governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. (State of Minnesota )
Those of us who preserve and teach American history, with all its faults, triumphs, and complexities, are alarmed as we discern the underlying reasons for these kinds of changes. Yanking historical beauty and stories from our culture undermines each state’s uniqueness, dumbs kids down, damages the education of our citizenry, and ushers in a dangerous eradication of history.
Teaching the true diversity between states (landscape, history, cultural values and resources) is vital to our nation’s connectedness — which is why my PragerU Kids’ series “Unboxed, USA” teaches elementary students about federalism, America’s motto of “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”), and why the varied histories of every state are meaningful. Do the people, places, and things that make each one of our states irreplaceable and important not matter to us as a nation anymore?
Some may argue that drastically changing historical symbols are a form of a coup d’etat. I agree. Our only hope? Teach traditional history … the one they’re trying to erase, flag by flag.
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