A month after the new state flag was adopted in Minnesota, flag stores are seeing how customers feel about the new design through sales.

Our most recent KSTP/SurveyUSA poll on the issue shows a plurality of Minnesotans want to keep the old flag.

At Coil’s Flags and Flagpoles in St. Cloud, Minnesotans are holding on to old habits.

“When it did change officially, people were calling, but they were calling saying ‘Can I get the old flag?’” Tim Coil, Coil’s Flags and Flagpoles owner, said. “We have been selling hundreds of the old flags.”

On May 11, Statehood Day was the big debut for the new state flag.

Coil sees the old flags leave the shelves quicker than he can keep track.

“Our stock is diminishing really fast now so we’re going to have to order more again because people are buying 5, 6, 10 and 12,” Coil said.

But the new flags are collecting dust.

There was friction from the start.

Some people argue the new look is too simple and doesn’t represent Minnesota, while others explained there was no need to change the flag.

“We have only sold six of the new flags to a customer base,” Coil said.

A seventh customer came in on Wednesday to buy the flag. He explained he’s not sold on the design, but his old flag is worn out so why not buy a new one.

The store owner said the majority of the people buying the new flag are associated with government agencies and businesses.

“That’s the strange thing is we have very few people come in and tell us they love the new flag and want the new flag,” Coil said. “People really have mixed emotions about one flag.”

While the old flag keeps finding new owners, the new one appears to be stuck on the shelves.