Wait ... Minneapolis and Rochester have flags? Yes, and some say they're ugly

Red Lake County's label as America's least desirable place to live may have been officially retracted, but now more arbiters of ugliness have taken aim at Minnesota – and this time from the air.

A writer for the website Gizmodo looked at city flags across North America and came up with a selection of what may be the ugliest.

And they're looking at you, Minneapolis...

And you, too, Rochester...

Like many municipal flags, these two seem to spend more time in City Hall attics than fluttering from flagpoles.

Where did they come from? There are explanations.

Minneapolis

The city's website reveals that in 1955 a flag committee unanimously adopted a design submitted by Louise Sundin, who was awarded a $250 U.S. savings bond as her prize.

The city council resolution making the flag official explains the four symbols on the blue pennant this way:

"...a building symbolizing education and the arts; a cogged wheel and square symbolizing labor and industry; a pilot wheel symbolizing our lakes and rivers and all activities identified with them; a microscope symbolizing research, skilled craftsmanship and progress – all of these symbols combined point out the beauty, harmony and brilliant future of our City."

Time for a flag makeover? Early this year there was such a push on Facebook, but the winds of change seemed to have died down – at least until Gizmodo's revival of the topic.

Rochester

Med City's banner is a more recent arrival, having flown only since 1980.

A design by artist Laurie A. Muir was selected from among nearly 200 entries in a city-wide competition.

Muir explains on her website that she used the Mayo Clinic and Plummer Building to depict Rochester's skyline; featured letters in the font used by IBM to symbolize another major employer in the city; and included a representation of Silver Lake and the Canada geese who live on it year-round.

Even before Gizmodo weighed in on it, KTTC reported this summer on rumblings about a new flag for the city – noting that IBM no longer uses the font and Rochester's skyline has changed.

Mayor Ardell Brede told the station he missed an opportunity to change the flag when Rochester marked its 150th birthday but is eyeing the opening of a new Mayo Civic Center in 2017 as another chance.

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