AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine voters will vote on a future state flag design in 2026 instead of this November under a measure the Senate endorsed on Monday.
The proposal from House Majority Leader Mo Terry, D-Gorham, will also set up a five-member Maine State Flag Commission to assist the secretary of state in approving a design to replace the version in place since 1909 featuring the state seal.
The Senate passed it 20-13 on Monday, with Sens. Craig Hickman of Winthrop and Mark Lawrence of Eliot the two Democrats to oppose it while Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart of Presque Isle was the lone Republican to back it. The House passed the bill last week without a roll call. After final enactment votes, the bill will go to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills.
The five members on the new commission will be the secretary of state, the state archivist, an expert in vexillology, an expert in graphic design and a representative of a statewide organization that promotes arts and culture in Maine.
Lawmakers passed last year an initial plan to let Maine voters decide whether to keep the current flag design featuring the state seal and a pine tree, moose, farmer and seaman on a blue background, or change it back to the 1901 design featuring a pine tree and blue star on a tan background.
But while Mills, a Democrat, initially moved to have the referendum occur in 2024, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, also a Democrat, testified in support of moving it to November 2026 after reaching out to her peer in Minnesota, which established a 14-member commission that met for 15 weeks before settling on a new state flag design in December.
“Our biggest takeaways from that conversation were that we needed to ensure we had sufficient time to get through the process and that the final decision could not rest on one person,” Bellows testified in March.