There are 67 circles, 19 stars, at least six colors, three dates, a bunch of flowers, one French phrase, and between three and seven pine trees, depending who you ask.

As far as flags go, Minnesota’s state flag … has a lot going on. It’s a branding nightmare, critics say.

And then there’s the naked Indian, spear in hand, riding bareback on a horse toward the setting sun, under the gaze of a white farmer plowing his field, his rifle and powderhorn within reach. Some say that’s downright offensive, a diminution and glorification of a history that we now see differently than we did around 1858, when Minnesota and the nation waged war on Native Americans, and when the image was adopted as the state seal.

Some lawmakers say it’s high time to do away with it.

On Tuesday, the first day of the 2020 Minnesota legislative session in St. Paul, a proposal that could lead to a new state flag was among those that Democrats brought forward.

No, they clarify, it’s not their Number 1 priority.

“But you always get some things that aren’t anyone’s top priority, but that you can agree on,” said state Rep. Peter Fischer, DFL-Maplewood, the lead sponsor of a bill that would create a task force to look at redesigning the flag.

Fischer first drafted his bill two years ago, when several students from Mahtomedi High School approached him with complaints about the current flag. Primarily, they said, it was a wasted opportunity for the state to brand itself.

The argument resonated with Fischer, who had worked in the private sector.

“The state flag is your brand,” he said. “Target’s got the big red dot. What do we have?”

NOT A NEW ISSUE

Second-guessing the state flag has been an on-again-off-again pastime of Minnesotans for decades.

The Pioneer Press held a contest to redesign the flag in 1989.

In 2000, a Republican lawmaker proposed establishing a commission to look at redesigning it. The idea failed to gain traction, but resurged after the North American Vexillological Association ranked Minnesota’s flag 67th out of 72 flags of U.S. and Canadian states, provinces and territories.

The Pioneer Press held another contest in 2001, awarding first place to the “North Star Flag.”

North Star Flag pic.twitter.com/PsPY1jnJVZ — J – DeLa (@jayapproves) February 11, 2020

But again, nothing actually happened.

Still, the issue has remained alive in certain quarters, including online map-design forums and civics classrooms.

For the past several years, my #MNstudies students have been redesigning the Minnesota flag. pic.twitter.com/gbz7jqoMtY — Mark J. Westpfahl (@MarkJWestpfahl) February 11, 2020

OUTLOOK UNCLEAR

Fischer said he’d like to see his bill approved by Democratic-controlled House this session, but he said that’s unlikely if it doesn’t gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Asked about the issue Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, responded: “I am not focused at all on changing the Minnesota flag. I like the way it is.”