After a politically tumultuous 2020, Mississippi has finally voted to replace its 126-year-old flag in the hopes of displaying its state’s progress.
Originally, Mississippi’s state flag was emblazoned with a Confederate symbol, a prominent design used during the American civil war. Later, following multiple redesigns, the Confederate flag was adopted by far-right groups and has since been known as a notorious symbol of white supremacy.
The last state to feature a confederate symbol on its flag, Mississippi previously held a vote to replace the flag in 2001, but the majority of the state’s residents chose to keep the old design. However, with racial justice being at the forefront of American minds in the past few months, and the Confederate flag being a painful visual reminder of America’s war to uphold slavery, a second vote to replace the insignia was secured.
This time a successful enterprise, the state’s lawmakers decided to replace the flag following a vote in June this year. More recently, Mississippi held a public referendum to allow its people to choose what they would like the archaic flag to be replaced with. A design by Rocky Vaughn, featuring a magnolia flower insignia, emerged as the winner out of 3,000 submissions, NBC News reports.
The new flag features a white magnolia blossom on a dark blue backdrop, with red bands and gold stripes. The magnolia flower, Mississippi’s state flower, is circled by 20 white stars, signifying the state’s status as 20th in the union. There is also a gold five-point star to represent Mississippi’s Native American tribes. At the base of the circle, there is the quote, “In God We Trust.”
According to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the new flag is hoped to “represent the forward progression of Mississippi”, and the state’s “sense of hope and rebirth, as the Magnolia often blooms more than once and has a long blooming season.”
While the vote to replace its long-held Confederate flag is a historic move apt for a historic year, Democratic State Rep. Jeramey Anderson said that this is not enough to end the state’s division. Anderson told CNN:
This was a bold, bipartisan step that shows the world Mississippi is finally ready to step out from under the cloud of slavery and Jim Crow. But it isn’t the final step. Mississippi and the United States remains plagued by systemic racism that keeps people of color from being truly free and equal.
For more astounding American news, click here to read about Donald Trump congratulating the wrong state for the Super Bowl 54 win.
