Elk River approves bringing back former Minnesota flag on city buildings

New Minnesota flag, seal debate revived

Following the decision of choices for a new state flag and seal late last year, Minnesota GOP lawmakers and citizens are hoping to renew the debate over the designs chosen.

ELK RIVER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Saying more than 75% of residents during a recent survey supported the decision, the Elk River City Council has adopted a resolution that would bring back the previous version of the Minnesota state flag outside city-owned buildings.

Elk River state flag resolution

What we know:

On Monday, the Elk River City Council unanimously approved Resolution 26-31 to "recognize the 1983 State of Minnesota flag as the official flag to be displayed on city-owned property," according to council agenda materials.

Noting that council members went through a process of resident engagement that included reviewing published news articles, social media, website feedback and a public forum on April 6, the resolution was drafted to proclaim, "The City of Elk River shall display the official 1983-2023 Minnesota State Flag as the representative flag of the State of Minnesota on all city-owned properties, now or in the future, that display a Minnesota State Flag."

The resolution also notes issues with the process by which the new version was approved, stating it had, "Concerns with the process to select and approve the new flag and lack of decision-making by elected state representatives," as well as "inadequate Greater Minnesota representation on the State Emblems Commission" and "poor marketing and implementation of a public process for statewide engagement."

The full resolution can be found below:

Dig deeper:

Out of the 1,053 responses, 74.6% — or 786 — said they supported the display of the former flag, while 24.4% said they showed a preference for the new flag.

Elk River Mayor John Dietz previously said the amount of responses received was more than he had ever seen for one issue during his 32-year tenure.

Zumbrota City Council votes to hang old state flag

The Zumbrota City Council has voted to no longer hang the new Minnesota state flag but the old one. The state flag only flies in the City Council chambers and no where else in the city. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has more. 

What's next:

Following its approval, the resolution was officially adopted on April 20, 2026.

The decision on whether to display a state flag is left to each city under Minnesota law.

Minnesota cities that have previously opted to bring back the old design include Champlin, Zumbrota, North Branch, Detroit Lakes, Pine Island, Crosslake, Babbitt and Wadena.