It's finally time for Minnesota to fly its new state flag

Minnesota's new state flag officially takes flight this weekend.

Why it matters: The high-profile makeover, which turned heads and unfurled hot takes across the state and nation , marks the first major redesign of the state's flag in over 100 years.

The big picture: Unlike before, we'll actually be able to tell ours apart from the dozen other states with flags that feature a detailed emblem on a blue field.

State of the masts: The new blue-on-blue banner will be raised at several state sites for the first time at sunrise on Saturday.

• The Minnesota National Guard will retire the outgoing banners and give them to the Minnesota Historical Society.

Catch up fast: The state Legislature created a commission last year to redesign the flag and seal in response to criticism that the old imagery was a "cluttered genocidal mess."

• The old flag, designed in 1893 and last tweaked in the 1950s, depicted a Native American riding away on horseback with a farmer in the foreground.

Inside the room: The commission, appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, spent months narrowing down more than 2,000 public submissions (including a very good dog and a laser-eyed loon).

• They ultimately tweaked a submission for the final concept featuring an abstract outline of the state and a North Star designed by Andrew Prekker, a 24-year-old artist from Luverne .
• For the redesigned seal, the commission went with a loon .

Friction point: While many of us probably couldn't have picked the old flag out of a lineup, everyone had an opinion on what the new one should look like — and whether it should change at all.

What they're saying: Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association, gives the final design an A+ .

• "It's different from all other U.S. state flags and actually most flags that I've seen," he told WCCO. "This special stylized form of the state is a very unusual flag design element."

The other side: Critics of the new design say it's too simple and doesn't contain enough symbolic imagery. Some argue the old flag was fine.

• More than 70% of respondents to a February KSTP poll said they thought the state should revert to the old flag or pick a new design.
• GOP lawmakers and groups who argue that the old flag was fine have called for a reversal or redo. The state Republican Party went as far as to launch " don't PC our flag " merch.

Yes, but: The state law directing the redesign dictated that the flag would be adopted on May 11, Statehood Day, unless the Legislature opted to veto the design.

• Leaders at the DFL-majority Legislature say they like it.

The bottom line: We're all amateur vexillologists now.