She makes the cut in flag design, inclusion

They liked its unique nature, which is something, considering that the state flag design entered by Cloquet artist Sarah Agaton Howes was one of 2,600 entries reviewed by the State Emblem Redesign Commission this fall as it winnows down to a final new Minnesota flag and seal by year's end.

The commission deliberated for hours on Nov. 21 and voted in six flag designs and five seal entries.

Agaton Howes' flag, based on Native loom and bead work, features a geometric yellow North Star and similarly shaped iconography for trees and plants, all on a blue background. There are also subtle hash marks on each side of the design, 87 in white representing Minnesota's counties and 11 in yellow marking the state's sovereign nations.

Commission members, after selecting the six flag designs, talked about each one. They liked the simplicity of Agaton Howes' design overall, its nod to Native culture, its asymmetry, and the North Star, which, in a large field of star depictions, was called one of the best committee members saw.

Agaton Howes was just happy this week that one of her three entries made the final cut.

"To get a win on Thanksgiving week is great," she said with glee, referring to the mixed feelings Native people have about the annual holiday. The announcement on Tuesday did lead to a lot of discussion among friends and family over the long weekend, she said.

"I feel we have to take control of our own narrative," she said. If nothing else occurs among the flurry of talk about the new state emblems, getting people to understand how the current state flag and seal are not only "bad art" but an "awful representation of how we were supposed to disappear as Native people," she said.

"I'd happily help those symbols disappear," she added.

Many people told Agaton Howes that she should submit a design. She is a renowned artist and creator of Heart Berry, with a focus on Ojibwe design and traditions incorporated into textiles such as blankets. She opened a retail store in Cloquet last week after gaining popularity online.

She isn't new to flags, having created items for the Minnesota United soccer team in Minneapolis, including a flag to mark Native night at its stadium. A strong passion for her after art is soccer, she said.

"I think flags are powerful and tell a story," she said.

Her flag features "old designs" from Native artistic traditions, she said. "It predates all of us. It was here before the state existed."

She said she followed color and content rules. In short, successful flags need to be simple enough that a child could recreate one from memory and to be seen and discerned from afar. Agaton Howes said she thinks she accomplished the mission, but still considered her designs as longshots.

Was her design picked because there were so few entries with nods to Native people?

"If there's tokenism, fine," she said. "That can be used both ways. As long as something makes people uncomfortable, I'm OK with that. I have no problem being picked because I'm Native."

If people finally get it, that Native people are here and not going anywhere, and that the flag depiction of today is wrong, she's won, she said. "We have to evolve, to be more accurate."

"Flags are a stake to claim space," she wrote last week shortly after finding out she was a finalist. "This move to change our flag to accurately represent our state is a powerful move to show who we actually are as people of this land."

"We are all Minnesota. Native nations and our whole state is a thriving, vibrant community."

Simplicity proved dominant over flag concepts that had too many colors or symbols.

The committee trimmed the possible designs for the next state seal to five. The seal is the emblem that appears on many government documents and on some buildings. There were far fewer entries, and commission members were willing to include more aspects on that emblem than they were the flag.

Some of the more comical, and social media viral submissions - like a photo of someone's golden retriever, a hot dish seal and a simple "bayg" emblazoned on a flag, in a nod to Minnesota accents - failed to make the cut. Agaton Howes showed her sly humor when asked if there were any designs outside of her own that she liked. She mentioned the hot dish, "bayg," and "laser-eye loon" entries.

There were a lot of entries that had the state's official bird on it. But loons aren't ubiquitous to all parts of the state, committee members said this week, so they mostly stayed away from those. North Stars were all the rage.

The committee is charged with coming up with a new flag and seal by the end of the month.

Members last week emphasized their desire to meet the requirements laid out for them by the state legislature. They have to select emblems that "accurately and respectfully reflect Minnesota's shared history, resources, and diverse cultural communities."

Agaton Howes smiles, saying she's certainly proud of hitting those marks. "I'm just glad the flag is changing."

Minnesota Public Radio News contributed to this story. It has artist interviews, including one with Sarah Agaton Howes, and lots of flag and seal stories on its website, mprnews.org.