You're looking at the Minnesota flag through the eyes of someone with lots of good choices who didn't get what they want. I think there's no doubt that the current new flag is an upgrade from the old one.

Imo the new Minnesota flag is great. It's not as good as the original submission (and that sentiment might contribute to people not liking it as much), but it's still a good flag. The colors are nice, the design is distinct & readable, and you can even combine other flags with it (an obvious example being a pride flag) by replacing that light blue field.