The 2004 Georgia flag referendum was a
legislatively referred advisory referendum in
Georgia. It took place on March 2, 2004, alongside the state's
presidential primaries. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of the 2003 flag, which gained 73.1% of the vote.
Background
File:Flag of the State of Georgia (1920–1956).svg, Flag of Georgia from 1920 to 1956
File:Flag of the State of Georgia (1956–2001).svg, Flag of Georgia from 1956 to 2001
File:Flag of the State of Georgia (2001–2003).svg, Flag of Georgia from 2001 to 2003
File:Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg, Flag of Georgia from 2003
The
flag of Georgia adopted in 1956 contained part of the
Confederate flag
The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...
. In 1992,
governor of Georgia
The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...
expressed his intention to remove this Confederate imagery, describing it as the "last remaining vestige of days that are not only gone but also days that we have no right to be proud of."
While legislation was introduced to change the flag,
this was unsuccessful, and by 1993 Miller had conceded that changing the flag would not be possible. A 2000 report by the
Georgia State Senate
The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Legal provisions
The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...
found the introduction of the 1956 flag to be a symbol of racist protest against desegregation.
Roy Barnes
Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th Govern ...
responded to calls for a new flag in 2001 by encouraging legislation on the matter. The flag that was approved was originally designed around the time of the 1992 dispute by
Cecil Alexander.
HB 16 was passed on January 30 2001, enacting the new flag.
This design reduced the Confederate imagery to a small version of the 1956 flag. Critics labelled the flag "Barnes’s rag",
and the city of
Trenton adopted a modified version of the 1956 flag in protest.
In the
2002 gubernatorial election, Republican candidate
Sonny Perdue defeated Barnes. Perdue ran on the promise to allow a statewide referendum on the flag of Georgia. While it was implied that the referendum would be on the 1956 flag, the initial bill, HB 380, legislated for 2 referendums; the first on a redesign, and the second (if the redesign was rejected) between the pre- and post-1956 flags. However, following concerns from some legislators, this was amended to be 1 referendum between the 2001 and 2003 flags.
HB 380 was passed on the last day of the 2003 session.
An
executive order by Perdue ordered the redesign to be displayed by entities required to display the Georgia flag, rather than the 2001 flag.
Text
The question on the ballot read:
''Should the State of Georgia keep the 2003 Flag adopted at the 2003 Session of the General Assembly or return to the 2001 Flag adopted at the 2001 Session of the General Assembly?''
Both flags were pictured on the ballot.
Result
Results by county
Source:
References
{{reflist
Flag controversies in the United States
Flag referendums
2004 Georgia (U.S. state) elections
Georgia (U.S. state) ballot measures