The flag of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, also known as the Mississippi flag, consists of a white

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

blossom surrounded by 21 white stars and the words '

In God We Trust "In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the United States national motto, official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing ("Out of many, one"), whic ...

' written below, all put over a blue

Canadian pale In heraldry and vexillology, a Canadian pale is a centre band of a vertical Triband (flag), triband flag (a pale (heraldry), pale in heraldry) that covers half the length of a flag, rather than a third as in most triband designs. This allows more s ...

with two vertical gold borders on a red field. The topmost star is composed of a pattern of five diamonds, an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

symbol; the other 20 stars are white, as Mississippi was the 20th state to join the Union. The flag was adopted on January 11, 2021. Mississippi has had three official state flags in its history. The first flag, known as the "Magnolia Flag", was adopted in 1861 and consisted of a "Flag of white ground, a

tree in the , a blue field in the upper left hand corner with a white star in the , ... with a red border and a red fringe at the extremity of the Flag". The Magnolia Flag was declared to be "

null and void In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means " ...

" by a state constitutional convention in 1865 and the state was left without an official flag until the second one was adopted in 1894. The second flag, designed by Edward N. Scudder and adopted in 1894, consisted of a triband of three equal horizontal stripes of blue, white, and red, with a

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

of the

Confederate battle 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 ...

. The thirteen stars on the state flag officially represented "the number of the original states of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

", although they are sometimes thought to be for the states that seceded from the Union plus Missouri and Kentucky, which also had both Confederate and Union governing bodies. From 1894 to 1956, and again from 2003 to 2020, this was the only state flag to incorporate the Confederate battle flag into its design. In response to the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

in 2020, state legislators proposed new flag designs omitting the Confederate flag. On June 27, 2020,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tate Reeves Jonathan Tate Reeves (born June 5, 1974) is an American politician serving as the 65th governor of Mississippi since 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Reeves served as the 32nd lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020 and as ...

stated that if the

Mississippi Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 m ...

passed a bill that weekend addressing the flag issue, he would sign it into law. Subsequently, on June 28, 2020, the Legislature passed a bill to repeal the sections of the Mississippi State Code which made provisions for a state flag, mandate the

Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency. It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government. Location The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is located in Jackson. The William F. Winter Archives ...

develop a plan for the removal of the former flag from public buildings within 15 days of the bill's effective date, and establish a commission to design a replacement that would exclude the Confederate battle flag and include the U.S. national motto "In God We Trust". Reeves then signed it into law on June 30, 2020. The third flag was designed by Rocky Vaughan, Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles, Daniel Pugh, and Micah Whitson. It was chosen by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which was established by the same June 2020 Mississippi House bill which retired the second flag. The commission received thousands of submissions, and narrowed them down to a single choice, which was submitted for public vote as a ballot measure on November 3, 2020. Voters approved the new design in a two-choice vote but the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the new proposed design was never approved by voters directly. It is one of three U.S. state flags to feature the words "In God We Trust" (the U.S. national motto), with the other two being those of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

History

First flag (1861–1865)

Before 1861, Mississippi lacked a flag. When the State Convention at the

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

declared its

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

("the Union") on January 9, 1861, near the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, spectators in the balcony handed a Bonnie Blue flag down to the state convention delegates on the convention floor, and one was raised over the

state capitol building This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...

in Jackson as a sign of

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

. Later that night, residents of Jackson paraded through the streets under the banner.

Harry McCarthy Harry McCarthy (1834–1888), also known as Harry Macarthy, was a songwriter from Ireland, where he became a variety entertainer and comedian in the mid 19th century. Career In 1861 he wrote the song " The Bonnie Blue Flag," about the unoff ...

, an Irish singer and playwright who observed the street parade, was inspired to write the patriotic song "

The Bonnie Blue Flag "The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by the entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song " The Ir ...

." The first flag was known as the "Magnolia flag." It was the official state flag from March 30, 1861, until August 22, 1865. On January 26, 1861, the delegates to the state convention approved the report of a special committee that had been appointed to design a coat of arms and "a suitable flag." The flag recommended by the committee was "A Flag of white ground, a magnolia tree in the center, a blue field in the upper left hand corner with a white star in the center, the Flag to be finished with a red border and a red fringe at the extremity of the Flag." Due to time constraints and the pressure to raise "means for the defense of the state," the delegates neglected to adopt the flag officially in January but did so when they reassembled in March 1861. The Magnolia Flag was not widely used during the war, as the various Confederate flags were displayed more frequently. Following the

war's end ''War's End'' is a journalistic comic about the Bosnian War written by Joe Sacco. It contains two stories; the first, ''Christmas with Karadzic'', about tracking down and meeting the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić, and the second, ''Soba'', ...

, a state constitutional convention nullified many of the ordinances and resolutions passed by the State Convention of 1861. Among those nullified was the ordinance of March 1861 "to provide a Coat of Arms and Flag for the State of Mississippi."

Second flag (1894–2020)

On February 7, 1894, the

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

replaced the Civil War era Magnolia Flag with a new one designed by Edward N. Scudder that incorporated the Confederate battle flag in its

. This second state flag consisted of three equal horizontal triband of blue, white, and red, with the

of the battle flag of the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

. The 13 stars on the state flag officially represented "the number of the original states of the Union"; though they are sometimes thought to have been for states that seceded from the Union, plus Missouri and Kentucky which had Union and Confederate governments. The Mississippi Code of 1972, in Title 3, Chapter 3, described the flag as follows: In 1906, Mississippi adopted a revised legal code that repealed all general laws that were not reenacted by the legislature or brought forward in the new code. The legislature inadvertently omitted mention of the 1894 flag, leaving the state with no official state flag from 1906 to 2001. In 2000, the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

confirmed that the state legislature had in 1906 repealed the 1894 adoption of the state flag; the flag used since then and considered official had actually only been customary or traditional.

Early proposals to change the 1894 flag

=2001 referendum

In January 2001, then-Governor

Ronnie Musgrove David Ronald Musgrove (born July 29, 1956) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from January 16, 1996 to January 11, 2000 and as the 62nd Governor of Mississippi from January ...

appointed an independent commission which developed a new proposed flag design. On April 17, 2001, a legally binding state referendum to change the flag was put before Mississippi voters by the legislature on recommendation of this commission. The referendum, which asked voters if the new design prepared by the independent commission should be adopted, was defeated in a vote of 64% (488,630 votes) to 36% (267,812), and the 1894 state flag was retained. The proposed flag would have replaced the Confederate rebel battle flag with a blue square canton with 20 white stars in a circular row. The outer ring of 13 stars would represent the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centu ...

, the middle ring of six stars would represent the six nations that have had sovereignty over Mississippi Territory (various Native American nations as a collective nation, French Empire,

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, the United States, and the Confederacy) as well as the six states that precede Mississippi's admission (

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

), and the inner and slightly larger star would represent Mississippi itself. The 20 stars would also represent Mississippi's status as the 20th

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

and member of the United States of America. When

adopted a new state flag in 2003, the Mississippi flag remained the only U.S. state flag to include the Confederate battle flag's

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

. In 2001 a survey conducted by the

North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. It ...

(NAVA) placed Mississippi's flag 22nd in design quality of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state, and U.S. territorial flags ranked.

= 2015 replacement efforts

= In the wake of the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting, in which nine black parishioners of the

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, often referred to as Mother Emanuel, is a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1817, Emanuel AME is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the Southern United States. This, ...

were killed by Confederacy admirer and white supremacist

Dylann Roof Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and mass murderer convicted of perpetrating the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. During a Bible study at Em ...

, there were renewed calls for Southern states to cease using the Confederate battle flag in official capacities. This extended to increased criticism of Mississippi's state flag. All eight public universities in Mississippi, along with "several cities and counties", including

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, later refused to fly the state flag until the emblem was removed. The flag was excluded from state-flag displays in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

that included the flags of the other 49 states. Over 20 flag-related bills, some calling for another statewide referendum, were introduced in the legislature in 2015 and 2016, but none made it out of committee. A 2016 federal lawsuit alleging that the flag is tantamount to "state-sanctioned hate speech" was dismissed by both a district court and the

5th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * Mi ...

. The

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

declined to hear the case.

=Hospitality and Bicentennial flags

An alternative was devised in 2014 by artist Laurin Stennis, granddaughter of former U.S. senator John C. Stennis. Her proposal was originally dubbed the "Declare Mississippi flag" but was popularly called the "Stennis flag" and later renamed the "Hospitality flag". In June 2020, Stennis stepped back from the effort to change the 1894 flag, citing potential harm associated with her last name, which she shares with her grandfather who was a

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

for much of his career. In August 2020, the copyrighted design was withdrawn from being an option for a new flag because it did not include the legislature-mandated "In God We Trust" slogan. The flag consists of a single blue star on a white field, an inversion of the white star on a blue field of the Bonnie Blue flag. It is encircled by 19 smaller stars representing each state in the Union when Mississippi joined, as well as symbolizing "unity and continuity" drawing inspiration from the artifacts of the indigenous peoples of the region. The central white field represents "faith and possibility", and is flanked on each side by vertical red bars, representing "the blood spilled by Mississippians, whether civilian or military, who have honorably given their lives in pursuit of liberty and justice for all". In an interview, Stennis said the red bars also stand for "Mississippians' 'passionate differences' on the flag issue". Since its inception, numerous bills were brought before the legislature to have the Stennis flag declared the new state flag, but none of them passed. On April 17, 2019, Mississippi governor

Phil Bryant Dewey Phillip Bryant (born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 31st lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 2008 to 2012 and ...

signed a new specialty license plates bill. One of the new specialty plates included the Stennis flag along with the phrase "History + Hope + Hospitality". This was the first time that the Stennis flag's design received some form of state sanction by being used in an official capacity. A flag was created by the Mississippi Economic Council to celebrate the state's bicentennial in 2017. This flag consisted of a blue, white and red tricolor with the state seal centered on the white stripe. The flag also had the words "Established 1817" and "Bicentennial 2017" written on the white stripe on either side of the seal. This flag, without the wording, has been used as an alternative state flag and has been suggested as a possible replacement for it. In late June 2020, former Governor

suggested using the bicentennial flag as a future state flag. Following the retirement of the previous state flag on June 30, 2020, this banner was used in some instances as a ''de facto'' placeholder. African American Mississippians from 2017 to 2020 frequently used the bicentennial flag along with the 2001 proposed flag.

Third flag (2020–present)

On June 9, 2020, lawmakers gathered votes and started drafting legislation to change the state flag. This was the first substantial action to change the state flag since the 2001 referendum. The proposed legislation would adopt Laurin Stennis's design as the new flag of Mississippi. With the support of Republican

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

Philip Gunn Philip Anthony Gunn (born January 27, 1963) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi. A member of the Republican Party, Gunn is the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and represents the 56th district. He has ...

, lawmakers began to court Republican state house members to vote for the resolution. Gunn ensured that he would get the resolution passed through a

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

committee if verbal support from 30 Republicans was secured to go along with the 45 Democratic members of the House. An update on June 10 showed that lawmakers believed that they had secured at least 20 Republicans who were in favor of voting for the resolution to change the flag, while 20 more were on the fence. The lawmakers' goal was to secure at least 40 Republicans needed to suspend rules to allow a bill to be considered in the session. On June 11,

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Democrats filed a resolution to change the state flag.

Public pressure for a new flag

On September 10, 2015,

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music ...

released the single "Mississippi It's Time" with all proceeds going towards the civil rights organization, Southern Poverty Law Center. The song was produced by Earle and recorded with his longtime backup band, the Dukes, in the summer of 2015 in the aftermath of the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. The song advocates for removal of the Confederate flag from state grounds and tackles historical themes of slavery, racism, patriotism, and progress since the Civil War. On June 18, 2020, the commissioner of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Greg Sankey Greg Sankey (born 1964) is the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. He was previously employed by the SEC for 13 years in various capacities. Prior to that, he was the commissioner of the Southland Conference. Early life and education Sank ...

, announced the SEC would consider banning championship events in Mississippi until the flag was changed. The SEC is the athletic conference for the two largest universities in Mississippi, Ole Miss and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. The announcement by the conference was followed by support of changing the flag from Chancellor

Glenn Boyce Glenn Boyce is an American academic administrator. He is currently the chancellor of the University of Mississippi. Prior to working at the university, Boyce was commissioner of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning from 2015 to 2018 an ...

of The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and President

Mark E. Keenum Mark Everett Keenum (born January 28, 1961) is an agricultural economist who is the 19th and current university president of Mississippi State University. He served as a professor at Mississippi State University from 1988 to 1989 and 1997 to ...

of Mississippi State University. The athletic directors of the universities, Keith Carter (Ole Miss) and John Cohen (Mississippi State), also supported changing the flag, along with various coaches from the universities. Mississippi Flag Mural in Tupelo

On June 19, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) banned all post-season play from occurring in Mississippi until the flag was changed. The NCAA had previously banned predetermined events such as football bowl games and men's basketball tournament games in 2001 from occurring in the state. The new rule would have also banned merit-based championship sites, such as baseball regionals, softball regionals, women's basketball tournament games and tennis tournament games. Ole Miss hosted both baseball and softball regionals in 2019. Mississippi State hosted a baseball regional, men's tennis tournament games and women's basketball tournament games in 2019. Also on June 19, the leaders of the eight public universities in Mississippi (

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricult ...

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

Mississippi University for Women Mississippi University for Women (MUW or "The W") is a coeducational public university in Columbus, Mississippi. It was formerly named the Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls and later the Mississippi State College ...

Mississippi Valley State University Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a public historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississippi.University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

and

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

) issued a joint statement calling for a new state flag. On June 22,

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

banned all postseason play in Mississippi until the removal of the Confederate emblem from the state flag. Conference USA is home to the state's third largest university,

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, and has hosted its annual baseball tournament in Mississippi for eight of the past nine years. On June 23, presidents of the fifteen community colleges in Mississippi issued a joint statement showing their support for a new flag. The

Mississippi Baptist Convention The Mississippi Baptist Convention (MBC or MBSC) is an autonomous association of Baptist churches in the state of Mississippi. It is one of the state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Formed in 1836, it was one of the ...

condemned the former state flag on June 23, 2020. In a statement, Baptist leaders said: "The racial overtones of the flag's appearance make this discussion a moral issue. Since the principal teachings of Scripture are opposed to racism, a stand against such is a matter of biblical morality."

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

announced that it would cease displaying the state flag at its 85 Mississippi store locations on June 23, 2020. The retailer normally displays the applicable state flag alongside the U.S. national flag at its locations in the U.S.

Legislative action

Mississippi state flag at the Old Courthouse, Vicksburg

On June 24, 2020,

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Delbert Hosemann Charles Delbert Hosemann Jr. (born June 30, 1947) is an American politician serving as the 33rd lieutenant governor of Mississippi, since January 2020. From 2008 to 2020, he served as the secretary of state of Mississippi. Early life Hosemann w ...

announced his support for a new flag. Hosemann was joined by Attorney General

Lynn Fitch Lynn Fitch (born October 5, 1961) is an American lawyer, politician, and the 40th Mississippi Attorney General. She is the first woman to serve in the role and the first Republican since 1878. Previously, she was the 54th State Treasurer of Missi ...

, State Auditor

Shad White Shadrack Tucker White (born September 22, 1985) is an American politician and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) serving as the 42nd State Auditor of Mississippi. He previously served as Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. A Republican, W ...

, Agriculture Commissioner

Andy Gipson James Andrew Gipson (born December 21, 1976) is an American politician. He is the current Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. A member of the Republican Party, Gipson served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representat ...

and Insurance Commissioner

Mike Chaney Michael Jackson Chaney (born January 6, 1944) is the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Mississippi. He is a 1966 graduate of Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Finance. Chaney is a veteran of the U ...

. On June 27, 2020, the

passed a resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 79, that suspended rules in the legislative chambers in order to debate and vote on a bill to remove and replace the state flag. The motion passed the

on an 85–34 vote and the

on a 36–14 vote. At that time, there was no consensus on the method of changing the flag, whether it be retiring the current flag or immediately adopting another. A proposal floated by several members of the Legislature was to create a new Mississippi flag. This flag, with a yet-to-be-determined design that did not include any Confederate images, would be used alongside the current flag. This plan was soundly rejected by Governor Tate Reeves who said it would not "satisfy either side of this debate" and compared it to the

separate but equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protec ...

doctrine. On June 28, 2020, the Legislature passed a bill, House Bill 1796, that would relinquish the state flag, remove the state flag from public buildings within 15 days of the bill's effective date, and constitute a nine-member commission to design a new flag that would be put to voters in a referendum to be held in November 2020. The bill required that the Confederate battle flag not be included on the proposed design, and the motto "

" be included, as

did when it removed the Confederate emblem from its state flag in 2003. In the House, the bill was passed by 91 in favor and 23 against. In the Senate, the bill was passed with 37 in favor and 14 against. Earlier that weekend, Governor Reeves had stated that he would sign any flag bill passed that weekend by the Legislature into law. Subsequently, after the Legislature passed the bill, a spokesperson for the governor indicated that he would sign, and Reeves did so on June 30, 2020. As the legislation repealed the sections of the Mississippi State Code which made provisions for a state flag, namely Section 3-3-16, Mississippi ceased once again to have an official state flag at this point.

2020 referendum

Under the terms of House Bill 1796 (approved by Governor on June 30, 2020), a body known as the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag would be constituted to suggest a design for a new state flag no later than September 14, 2020. The bill instructed the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to develop a plan for the removal of the 1894 flag from public buildings across the state and provide administrative support for the commission. The act stipulated that any design proposed by the commission must include the words "In God We Trust" and must not contain the Confederate battle flag. The proposed design would then be subject to a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

to be held concurrently with the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on November 3, 2020. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History invited the public to submit designs for a new state flag on July 13. In accordance with the rules imposed by House Bill 1796, designs would only be accepted if they contained the words "In God We Trust" and not include the Confederate battle flag. The commission also added that suggestions would need to be unique and adhere to principles of the

: that the design should use only two or three basic colors, be simple enough for a child to draw, and have meaningful symbolism. More than 2000 submissions meeting the legislative criteria were received and displayed on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History website. Each of the 9 commission members picked 25 flags, narrowing the list down to 147. While a modified Hospitality flag did not proceed beyond the first round, a similar-looking "Mosquito flag" briefly did, apparently due to a commissioner's typographical error. At an August 14 meeting, the commission announced that they had selected nine finalists. These finalists, depicting various elements including a representation of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

s, and stars composed of diamonds significant to the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

nation, had either red, white, and blue or green and white color schemes. The commission announced that they would narrow these designs down to five finalists at its next meeting on August 18. Five finalists were published on August 18, and this was reduced to two flags on August 25. The final two flags were the "Great River Flag" designed by Micah Whitson and "The New Magnolia" designed by Rocky Vaughan, Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles and Dominique Pugh. On September 2, the commission voted 8–1 to put the New Magnolia flag on the November ballot. Slight modifications were made to the original design, including making the text bolder and the red and gold bars thicker. The flag is officially referred to as the "In God We Trust Flag". Rocky Vaughan is credited with designing the flag's overall layout, with design support provided by Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles and Dominique Pugh (who created the magnolia illustration featured in the center). Micah Whitson was also given credit for the appearance of the Native American star. The flag was approved by 73% of the votes cast in a referendum on November 3, 2020. The flag was passed by the Mississippi State House of Representatives on January 5, 2021, and was passed by the State Senate on January 6, 2021. It officially became the state flag after being signed by the state's Governor on January 11, 2021. According to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History,

After the 2020 referendum

Let Mississippi Vote is a group that is attempting another referendum on a choice of four flag designs: the Magnolia flag that was adopted in the November 2020 referendum, the flag that it replaced, the Stennis version, and the Bicentennial flag. Their stated aim is to give Mississippians a choice instead of voting on only one flag. The group reached their goal of 5000 volunteers and has sent wording for their referendum to the Mississippi Attorney General's Office for approval. They need 106,190 valid signatures from Mississippi residents for the initiative to be placed on a ballot no earlier than 2023. The number of valid signatures was specified by a 1992 amendment to the Mississippi Constitution when the state had five congressional districts, and written as 12% of the total votes cast for governor in the election preceding the filing of the ballot initiative, with no more than 20% of those signatures coming from a single congressional district. However, as a result of redistricting after the 2000 U.S. Census, Mississippi was reduced to four congressional districts. In an unrelated case involving a medical marijuana initiative that had been certified for the ballot and then approved by Mississippi voters in 2020, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the initiative and said that the ballot requirements "cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress". Although Let Mississippi Vote continues to collect signatures, the court decision has so far not yet been addressed by the legislature, for example by further amending the Mississippi Constitution.

Notes

References

External links

View the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag meetings
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The Flag and the Fury
– Audio history
Mississippi Flag & Fashion
{{Authority control 1894 establishments in Mississippi 2020 disestablishments in Mississippi 2021 establishments in Mississippi African-American-related controversies

Political controversies in the United States Race-related controversies in the United States

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...