Let’s fly the new Minnesota flag. Or not. Or the old one, too.

As a mayor in rural Minnesota, Gene Hausauer has more pressing concerns than which state flag flies at city hall.

“I’m not going to spend a long period of time on it,” the Ortonville man said. “I care about, ‘Are we going to have water in our homes?’ and ‘Will we have decent streets to drive on?’”

So when his western Minnesota city’s council considered whether to fly the new or retired state flag, he was glad to resolve it and move on to regular local government business.

Hausauer and a council majority voted to fly the new design. Or, to be more precise, they supported the official design.

That flag is currently the one adopted in 2024 bearing two shades of blue and an eight-pointed star. Should the official flag ever change, so, too, will Ortonville’s choice. 

And people can continue to fly whatever they want on private property, Hausauer said...