Mississippi Replaces Confederate-Themed Flag After Voting and Fellow Americans Weigh In

Allison Schonter

11/06/2020 12:22 am EST

Americans across the country are weighing in after voters on Tuesday approved a new Mississippi flag. The new design, which features a magnolia and the phrase "In God We Trust," replaces the state flag that had been flying throughout the state for 126 years that incorporated a version of the Confederate battle flag.

According to NBC News, the new flag was on the ballot on Election Day and received 68% of the vote as of Tuesday night. "The New Magnolia" was designed by graphic artist Rocky Vaughan and features the state flower, which is on a dark blue background with red bars on either end, encircled by stars representing Mississippi as the 20th state. A gold five-point star is also on the flag to reflect Mississippi's indigenous Native American tribes.

The design had been created after state lawmakers in June voted to replace the original flag. "The New Magnolia" was selected among 3,000 submissions. The design, according to the Department of Archives and History, "represents Mississippi's sense of hope and rebirth, as the Magnolia often blooms more than once and has a long blooming season."

While "The New Magnolia" has unsurprisingly been the topic of conversation in the state of Mississippi, as Mississippians officially approved the design on Tuesday, it became the talk throughout the country, as Americans weighed in on social media. Scroll down to see what people are saying.

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Mississippi's original flag featured blue and white stripes and the Confederate battle emblem in the corner. It had been adopted in 1894. CNN reports that Mississippi was the last state in the country whose flag included the Confederate emblem.

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The flag had been the center of controversy for some time, and a statewide vote in 2001 resulted in the majority of voters choosing to keep the original flag. The push to replace the flag, however, was reinvigorated in 2020 amid nationwide protests following the police killings of several Black men, including George Floyd.

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In June, a group of bipartisan lawmakers started to draft a resolution to change the state's flag. At the time, the Mississippi Baptist Convention said that "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."

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The call to replace the flag was also taken up by celebrities, with Faith Hill making a plea on social media, writing, "to the Mississippi legislature: It's time to change the state flag." She said that it is time for the world to meet the Mississippi of today and not the Mississippi of 1894 (when the MS legislature voted on the current flag)."

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Later that month, Mississippi state lawmakers passed a historic referendum to retire and replace the flag. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed the referendum into law, stating, "this is not a political moment to me, but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together to be reconciled and to move on."

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Since then, Mississippi has been without a state flag. In an effort to replace the original flag, a nine-person commission selected by the state's top Republicans was tasked with picking a new design by September, with approximately 3,000 designs being submitted by August.

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"The New Magnolia" design was officially selected on Sept. 2 and was put on the November ballot. According to CNN, now that Mississippians have voted "yes," state Legislature will need to enact into law the new design as Mississippi's official state flag during its next regular session in 2021.

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