Minneapolis's flag, designed by Louise Sundin and adopted on May 27, 1955, features a white field with a royal-blue pennant containing a white circle divided into four sections. Each section shows a symbol: a building (education and the arts), a gear and a square (labor and industry), a ship's wheel (lakes and rivers), a microscope (research and progress).
These symbols capture Minneapolis's identity. The city is home to 18 lakes within its limits, the "City of Lakes." The Mississippi runs through the urban core, its Saint Anthony Falls having provided the waterpower that turned Minneapolis into a milling center in the 19th century. Pillsbury and General Mills were born here.
Minneapolis is larger, more modern, more commercial. Saint Paul is older, smaller, more governmental.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May 2020 triggered worldwide protests and turned the city into a symbol of racial justice. The 1955 flag, with its orderly symbols of progress and industry, now feels anachronistic. Minneapolis is in the midst of reinventing its identity.