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Owatonna, Minnesota (U.S.)

Steele County

image by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2020

Description of the flag
Seal
Earlier version of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

The flag of the City of Owatonna, Minnesota, is light blue with the city coat of arms on it.

CITY OF OWATONNA COAT-OF-ARMS
BLAZON:
Arms:
Azure and gules, quartered; parted per pale, argent.
In dexter chief, three wheat stems, or.
In sinister chief, interlocking gear wheels, of the third.
In dexter base, a torch and atomic symbol also of the third.
In sinister base, a cross, drama mask and music lyre of the fourth.
In pale, an Indian maiden, proper, affronteé.
Crest: A cornucopia of the fifth.
In an escroll under the shield, "Owatonna,"

LEGEND:

Three wheat stems Agriculture

Interlocking gear wheels Industry

Torch & atomic symbol Education in the atomic age

Cross, drama mask & music lyre Religion, drama music & fine arts

By: Bob Bowman
Information and image of the coat of arms thanks to Jeanette Clawson, Assistant City Clerk

The City:
"Owatonna is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 22,434 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna was first settled in 1853 around the Straight River. In 1883, Owatonna was the site of the State Fair and soon the county established its own fair in Owatonna, the Steele County Free Fair or SCFF, the largest free fair in Minnesota. All the attention on the area in the late 19th century caused the city administration (and a fly-by-night corporation from which the city administrators profited) to devise a tourism and bottled water scheme in which a story centered around a "Princess Owatonna" was concocted. According to the story, Princess Owatonna, daughter of Chief Wabena, fell ill. She was so ill she couldn't lift her head to drink the smallest pool of water. The chief had heard of the wonderful curative effects of water bubbling from the ground in what is now Owatonna, and decided that only their magical restorative properties could save his daughter. After being given the water by her father, Princess Owatonna was miraculously cured, lending her name and image to both the town and the newly minted bottled water company. A statue of the princess appears in Owatonna's Mineral Springs Park, next to Maple Creek, a tributary of the Straight River, and a fountain where visitors can see the springs and drink the water that saved Princess Owatonna." - from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owatonna,_Minnesota

Official website: ci.owatonna.mn.us
Valentin Poposki, 23 October 2010

The flag has been revised to have the seal on a white circle above a blue and red background.
Images can be seen on this website: https://littlebluewillows.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/owatonna6.jpg
And in this 2018 newspaper article:
https://www.southernminn.com/owatonna_peoples_press/
https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/southernminn.com
Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2020

Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 19 September 2019

Source: https://www.ci.owatonna.mn.us
Paul Bassinson, 19 September 2019

Earlier version of the flag

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 November 2010

The earlier version was on a plain blue field.
Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2020

Three wheat stems	Agriculture
Interlocking gear wheels	Industry
Torch & atomic symbol	Education in the atomic age
Cross, drama mask & music lyre	Religion, drama music & fine arts