JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi voters will decide whether to accept a new state flag with a magnolia to replace an old one legislators retired under pressure because it included the Confederate battle emblem that’s widely seen as racist.
A commission voted 8-1 Wednesday to recommend the magnolia over one other final design that featured a shield with wavy lines representing water.
“We’ll send a message that we live in the future and not in the past,” former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, the flag commission chairman, said after the vote.
The single design will go on the November ballot. If voters accept the design, it will become the new state flag. If they reject it, the design process will start anew — and Mississippi will remain a state without a flag for a while longer.
The commission decided Wednesday that leading to the November election, it will promote the magnolia flag by calling it the “In God We Trust” flag.
“More than any other time in our country, we need the mercy and grace of God,” said commission member TJ Taylor, who is an attorney and policy director for the state House speaker.
After the meeting Wednesday, the magnolia flag was raised on a pole outside the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, where it fluttered in a brisk breeze.
Later in the day, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves praised the magnolia design.
“I think they did a good job,” Reeves said. “It’s, I think, a well-done flag.”
Legislators shelved the Confederate-themed flag two months ago against the backdrop of widespread protests over racial injustice. The flag had been divisive for decades in a state with a 38% Black population. The final push for change came from business, education, religious and sports groups — including, notably, the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the Southeastern Conference.
BY LAW, the new flag cannot include the Confederate battle flag, and it must have the phrase, “In God We Trust.” Requiring the religious phrase on the new flag helped persuade some conservative legislators to retire the old one.
The public submitted nearly 3,000 designs. The commission — with members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker — narrowed the choices to the final two last week.
Creators of the final designs said their work reflects a love for Mississippi and a desire for a banner that a wide range of people can fly with pride.
The magnolia flag has the state flower on a dark blue background with red bars on either end. The flower is encircled by stars representing Mississippi as the 20th state. It also has a single star made of diamond shapes representing the Native American people who lived on the land before others arrived.
The magnolia flag is a combination of elements submitted by six people.
