On Monday, July 29th, Governor Maura Healey signed off on a budget amendment to change the state flag and seal of Massachusetts.
Her signature sets in motion a 12-month process whereby the Governor will be tasked with appointing an advisory commission to complete the work of the former Special Commission on the Seal and Motto.
The new advisory commission will not have to review the history and meaning of the current state flag, seal and motto. That’s been done, and the findings are clear.
The six Indigenous leaders who served on the former Special Commission forged a consensus with their colleagues that our current state flag and seal are causing harm, and are easily interpreted as a “celebration of the history of settler violence perpetrated against Indigenous people.”
The Special Commission voted unanimously on May 17th of 2022 that the current flag and seal of Massachusetts need to be completely revised.
The new advisory commission, which the Governor has just agreed to, will have 12 months to present the legislature with a finished design for a new, aspirational flag and seal, by soliciting design concepts from the general public, winnowing the entries to the top three, holding hearings around the state, selecting a finalist, and hiring a professional designer to create the finished artwork for the top pick.
If all goes well, by this time next year we should see the results of that process: a new flag, seal and motto for the Commonwealth.
After four Franklin County towns took the initiative by taking formal votes in support of changing the flag and seal in 2018, we can now point to a total of 82 cities and towns across the Commonwealth that have joined together in support of decades of activism and advocacy by Indigenous leaders, calling for this much needed change to our shameful state symbol of settler violence and the oppression of Native people.
The amendment, co-sponsored by senators Jason Lewis, Jo Comerford and Becca Rausch, also requires the development of a public educational process “to help residents understand the local Indigenous history and the historical underpinnings of the previous and new seals, mottos and flags from an Indigenous perspective.”
Thanks are due to all the activists and organizers across the Commonwealth who worked steadfastly for years advocating in support of the call of Indigenous leaders for this long overdue change.
May it lead to renewed, respectful dialogue and meaningful relations between the settler society and Indigenous nations, not only in Massachusetts, but throughout the country.
-David Detmold, Great Falls / Montague