AAP FACTCHECK – US Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz changed his state’s flag to resemble that of Somalia, social media posts claim.
This is false. Mr Walz was not a member of the commission that chose the new Minnesota state flag.
The claim appears in multiple Facebook posts, many of which feature the same text.
“Kamala Harris just officially chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP running mate,” one post begins.
“Tim is a big supporter of radical Islam, and even changed his states (sic) flag to resemble the Somali flag,” it claims.
Comedian and commentator Joe Rogan repeated the claim on his podcast, stating: “He changed the Minnesota state flag to make it look like a Somali flag” (4 minutes 19 seconds).
Mr Rogan continued: “How crazy is it that the governor gets to change the flag, like who else is involved in that decision?”
As governor, Mr Walz signed a law to establish the commission to choose a new state flag in 2023. He appointed three of its 13 voting members (page 10).
But Mr Walz was not a voting or non-voting member, and had no say in the final design.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon was a voting member, and his office confirmed that Mr Walz was not involved in the process.
“Governor Walz did not have a seat on the commission and did not have approval over the flag design or adoption,” his spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
The Secretary of State’s official website said the new flag represented Minnesota’s “best-known traits including its many lakes and rivers and the North Star”.
Social media posts appeared to connect the design to Somalia’s flag because the state has the largest Somali population in the US, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
Andrew Prekker, whose design was picked as the basis for the new flag, made no mention of it being based on the flag of Somalia or representing the Somali community in his design statement.
He said the left side, in darker blue, depicts the abstract shape of Minnesota, while the light blue stripe in his original design represented water given the state is known as “the land of 10,000 lakes”.
Mr Prekker said the design was inspired by “the simplicity and popularity of state flags like New Mexico, Colorado, and Tennessee” in an interview with US news outlet Dakota News Now.
While both the Minnesota and Somalia flags feature a single white star, they have different numbers of points.
Mr Prekker said the star in his design represented the state’s motto “L’etoile du Nord”, or “star of the north”. The star’s final design reflects the one on the floor of the Minnesota State Capitol’s rotunda.
The claim has been debunked by other outlets including PolitiFact and the Washington Post.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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