Minnesota State Coat of Arms

The Minnesota coat of arms is a circular design built around a frontier landscape scene. The design appeared on official state documents, the historic state flag, and government correspondence from 1861 until the Minnesota Legislature adopted a new state seal on May 11, 2024. The coat of arms represents the historic heraldic tradition of the state through that 163-year period.

At the center of the design is a landscape divided into foreground and background. Two human figures occupy the foreground, facing away from each other. Behind them, a famous waterfall and a broad river mark a specific point in Minnesota's geography. The year 1858 — the year of statehood — is included in the surrounding text of the design.

Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858. A seal was used at statehood, but the design was not yet finalized by the legislature. The year 1858 was incorporated into the circular text — The Great Seal of the State of Minnesota 1858 — to mark the moment of statehood even after the design was revised.

In 1861, the Minnesota Legislature formally approved the revised design associated with Henry Sibley, the state's first governor. The revised seal set the composition that would remain Minnesota's official coat of arms for more than a century: a settler plowing at right, a Native American on horseback at left, St. Anthony Falls in the background, the Mississippi River, pine trees, the sun on the western horizon, and the motto L'Étoile du Nord below.

In 1983, the legislature rewrote the statutory description of the design and commissioned a standardized official redraw. That version adjusted several rendering details, including the orientation of the Native American rider. The core composition — settler, rider, falls, river, trees, motto — remained unchanged.

In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature created the State Emblems Redesign Commission to adopt a new official seal and flag. A new Great Seal, centering a loon rather than a frontier scene, became official on May 11, 2024. The historic coat of arms design was retired from use on state documents on that date.

The Minnesota coat of arms is built around a frontier landscape scene contained in a circular design with the state name and the year 1858 in the surrounding text. Each element refers to a specific place, person, or moment in Minnesota's mid-nineteenth-century history.

The two-figure composition at the center of the coat of arms was not accidental. The settler faces east and the Native American figure rides west — away from each other. The design reflects the view held by mid-nineteenth-century state officials that European-American agriculture was replacing an earlier way of life on the same land.

St. Anthony Falls in the background grounds the scene in a real and famous place. In 1858, the falls were among the most recognizable landmarks in the upper Midwest. Including them made the coat of arms specific to Minnesota rather than a generic frontier image.

The French motto connects the design to a longer history. Minnesota's name comes from the Dakota language, but French explorers and traders were the first Europeans to map and name the rivers and lakes of the region. L'Étoile du Nord acknowledges that French-speaking history while pointing north — toward Canada, toward the border, toward the edge of the continent.

Minnesota used a seal from statehood in 1858, but the legislature did not formally approve a final design until 1861. The 1861 version became the standard for more than a century. A 1983 revision standardized the rendering and adjusted several details, including the orientation of the Native American rider.

The historic coat of arms design that existed from 1861 to 2024 is documented below through the two principal official renderings that survive most widely in public historical use.