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Minnesota is officially flying its new flag. What happens to the old one?
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota officially adopted its new state flag on Saturday, making the old flag history. So what happens to the old flag now that it is obsolete?
The old flag, which the Minnesota Legislature adopted in 1957, will no longer fly on any official government building.
Before the new flag was raised at sunrise, the outgoing state flags were retired by the Minnesota National Guard.
The Minnesota Department of Administration says it planned for the new flags to coincide with its flag replacement schedule.
The Minnesota Historical Society will preserve the old flag that flew over the Capitol and Court of Honor on the Capitol Mall. The other retired flags at the Capitol will be decommissioned consistent with the U.S. flag code.
The state had not officially provided any guidance on the disposal of the old flags but a spokesperson for the Minnesota Courts system said it suggested that judicial districts contact their local government agencies to “inquire about any potential disposal efforts or programs” or ship them to the Judicial Center in St. Paul so they can be burned.
The Minnesota Historical Society says it does not currently have any plans to display the retiring flag.
As for the old state seal, which is often on official government documents, it can be used until the supply is exhausted or until January 2025, whichever comes first. Information about the old seal will be retained in a collection kept by the Minnesota Historical Society.
For years, there had been discussion about changing the state flag. Not only did it violate the tenets of “good flag design” by flag experts, but some had issues with the imagery on the flag, which featured a White settler tilling land as an Indigenous man rides horseback.
The redesign commission spent four months considering more than 2,100 submissions from the public.
The new flag includes two shades of blue, which is a nod to Minnesota’s waters; an eight-pointed star for the “North Star State” that mirrors the design on the state capitol rotunda floor; and an abstract depiction of the shape of the state.
Flag expert Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association, told WCCO in December he gives the final design an A+.
Some Minnesota Republican lawmakers wanted to halt the new flag’s rollout and give Minnesotans a chance to provide more feedback on the design but were unsuccessful in their efforts.
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Nowadays, what makes a martini a martini? Robert Simonson, who wrote a book about the martini, said, “It’s funny: it’s strict and loose at the same time.”
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Everyone seems to have an opinion about the cocktail: “Ingredients, proportions, garnishes – it’s all subject to debate,” Simonson said. “I’m a purist. I would think it needs to be gin and vermouth. But I’m willing to bend and say, ‘Okay, vodka and vermouth as well.’ [However,] if there’s no vermouth in there, I don’t know how you can call it a cocktail.”
Simonson says the martini was probably named after a vermouth company. It was invented in America in the 1870s or ’80s when bartenders mixed gin with vermouth, a fortified wine made with herbs and spices. “It’s a very big player in cocktail history,” he said.
In the early 20th century, the “very-dry” martini became very-popular: Ice cold gin or vodka, garnished with a lemon twist, or an olive, or an onion, but only a little vermouth (or maybe not even a little).
Samantha Casuga, the head bartender at Temple Bar in New York City, says the reason why many people might not want vermouth in their martini is because, for years, vermouth was stored improperly. “It should be in the fridge,” she said.
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Casuga’s classic martini is two parts gin, one part vermouth, with a twist of lemon. She suggests that you probably shouldn’t order it the way James Bond does – shaken, not stirred. Casuga says she’s always stirring, but some people like the show behind the bar when a bartender shakes their cocktail. “Definitely, people love a good shake,” she said.
People also love to have a martini made just the way they want it. But Casuga understands why they might be so specific: “To have your own preferences, not only listened to and then executed, is, like, that’s luxury itself.”
Writer Robert Simonson says that a martini can also add a little luxury to your Thanksgiving. “It actually makes very good sense for Thanksgiving,” he said. “It will whet your appetite for the meal to come.
“There are very few American inventions more American than the martini. So, an American holiday, American drink.”
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Story produced by Mary Raffalli. Editor: Remington Korper.
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