Jackson, Miss
A new Mississippi flag without Confederate images was flying in parts of the state on Wednesday, one day after a majority voters approved the design that has a magnolia encircled by stars and the phrase “In God We Trust.”
Officials hoisted the flag outside Hattiesburg City Hall and on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
“Mississippi voters sent a message to the world that we are moving forward together,” former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson said in a statement.
Anderson led a nine-member commission that recommended the new flag design. Uncertified election results — which at midday Wednesday did not yet include numbers from Pearl River County — showed the new flag received more than 70% support.
It got a majority in all reporting counties except George and Greene.
“I have a renewed sense of hope for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and I know this new symbol creates better prospects for the entire state of Mississippi,” Anderson said.
Mississippi legislators in late June retired a 126-year-old state flag that was the last in the U.S. to include the Confederate battle emblem. The vote occurred as protests over racial injustice were taking place across the nation and Confederate monuments were being toppled or taken down by authorities.
The Southeastern Conference and the state Baptist convention were among groups that urged legislators to shelve the flag that critics called a constant visual reminder of Mississippi’s racist history.
The governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker appointed flag commissioners, and the public submitted more than 3,000 designs, including one featuring a giant mosquito.
Legislators specified that the new flag could not include the rebel symbol and must include, “In God We Trust.” They also said a single flag would go on the ballot for a yes-or-no vote.
The new flag pays tribute to the Native Americans with a gold star made of five diamond shapes. The diamond motif is important to the Choctaw culture.—AP
