evidence: Minnesota is getting a new state flag, and right-wing accounts on X, including End Wokeness and pro-Trump influencer Fleccas, claim that the winning design purposefully resembles a Somali flag. The inaccurate posts claim the new flag closely resembled that of Puntland state, a region of northeastern Somalia that was declared autonomous in 1998. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S., and possibly the most significant Somali diaspora community in the world outside of East Africa. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, represents the 5th Congressional District, which encompasses much of greater Minneapolis. [...] "The new Minnesota flag was not designed based on the Somali flag," a spokesperson for the Minnesota Historical Society told The Dispatch Fact Check. "The designer who submitted the design concept, who is from Luverne, Minnesota, cited many symbols and references of Minnesota as his design inspiration. The Commission further refined the design to represent important features of Minnesota including the North Star, the shape of the State of Minnesota, and blue representing the waters of Minnesota."