First state flag by Fjelde sisters

Titles: First state flag by Fjelde sisters (Supplied title)

Description: Minnesota's first State Flag designed by Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis, Minnesota and embroidered by Pauline and Thomane Fjelde, immigrants to Minnesota from Norway and respected needleworkers and embroiderers. The flag was exhibited and won a gold medal at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois in 1893.

Dates

• Exactly 1893 (Creation)

Creation

• made by: Fjelde, Pauline Gerhardine
• made by: Hansen, Thomane Fjelde
• designer: Center, Amelia Hyde

Identifiers

• Accession Number: 1993.8.1

Credit: From the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, St, Paul, Minnesota, United States of America

Notes

• Flag background: The 1891 Minnesota legislature passed a resolution to sponsor an exhibit to showcase Minnesota at the 1893 World’s Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition. A Women’s Auxiliary Board planned much of Minnesota's exhibit, and their state flag committee held a contest for flag design, as Minnesota had had no official state flag since receiving statehood in 1858. On February 28, 1893, Amelia Hyde Center's design was chosen from nearly 200 submissions. Center was a member of Minneapolis’s arts and crafts movement and later relocated to Chicago to successfully pursue art and leatherworking. The Fjelde sisters were commissioned to embroider the design on silk and the Minnesota legislature subsequently adopted the design to make it the first official flag of Minnesota. The flag was displayed in the Fair's Women’s Building.
• Flag design: Minnesota adopted a state seal in 1861 and this seal was featured on many Civil War era regimental flags. The state seal is the centerpiece of each side of the flag designed by Amelia Hyde Center, with a blue backdrop on one side and a white backdrop on the other. The seal features the state’s motto, “L'Étoile du Nord” (the Star of the North) and Center included three dates: 1819 (the year Fort Snelling was established), 1858 (the year of statehood), and 1893 (the year the flag was adopted). The central image is surrounded by pink and white lady slippers, the state flower of Minnesota, and 19 stars, representing Minnesota as the 19th state admitted to the Union.

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

• Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

• 67 inches height (approximate)
• 76 inches width (approximate)
• 86 inches height (frame)
• 89 1/2 inches width (frame)
• 5 1/2 inches depth (frame)

Subjects

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