Mississippi approves magnolia emblem to replace Confederate flag

4 November 2020, 06:14

The new Mississippi Flag
Election 2020 Mississippi Flag. Picture: PA

The flag also bears the words ‘In God We Trust’.

Mississippi will fly a new state flag with a magnolia to replace a Confederate-themed flag state politicians retired months ago as part of the national reckoning over racial injustice.

The new flag, which also bears the phrase “In God We Trust”, was approved by the state’s voters on Tuesday.

The magnolia flag was the only design on the general election ballot, and voters were asked to say yes or no. A majority said yes.

Legislators will have to put the design into law, but they are expected to do that with little fuss since they already accomplished the more challenging task of retiring a flag that some people wanted to keep.

Election 2020 Mississippi Flag
A display stand in Jackson, Mississippi with a number of the recently retired state flags (Rogelio Solis/AP)

Mississippi has been without a flag since late June, when legislators surrendered the last state banner in the US that included the Confederate battle emblem — a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. The rebel flag has been used by Ku Klux Klan groups and is widely condemned as racist.

The new Mississippi flag has the state flower on a dark blue background with red bars on either end. The magnolia is encircled by stars representing Mississippi as the 20th state. The flag also has a single star made of diamond shapes representing the Native American people who lived on the land before others arrived.

White supremacists in the state legislature adopted the Confederate-themed flag in 1894 amid a backlash to the power black people gained after the abolition of slavery.

For decades, the flag was divisive in a state with a significant black population, currently about 38%.

A majority of voters chose to keep the flag in a 2001 election, but several cities and counties and all of Mississippi’s public universities had stopped flying it because of the Confederate symbol.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages to be freed as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages to be freed as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Donald Trump has ordered the release of the last classified files surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Thursday, vowing that ‘everything will be revealed’.

JFK's grandson slams Trump after president orders assassination files to be made public

President Donald Trump (C) receives the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

Trump demands $1 trillion investment and a reduction in oil prices from Saudi Arabia

Asylum seekers rush to be processed by border patrol agents at an improvised camp near the US-Mexico border

Trump sends 1,500 troops to Mexican border with plans to up army presence to 10,000 in immigration crackdown

Donald Trump has ordered the release of the last classified files surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Thursday, vowing that ‘everything will be revealed’.

'All will be revealed': Trump orders last JFK assassination files to be released

The service says it saw a huge jump in signups following the January 6 riot, which prompted Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to crack down on Trump and others who they said had incited violence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

January 6 rioter arrested on gun charges less than 24 hours after Trump pardon

Evacuations were ordered for remote communities near a new fast-moving wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles.

30,000 evacuated as new wildfire breaks out near Los Angeles

Donald Trump holds a letter that former President Joe Biden left for him

Donald Trump reveals what Joe Biden wrote in 'inspirational' farewell letter

Primary school children reading in a classroom in the UK.

Gender pay gap starts at 6, study finds, as boys ‘tend to overestimate their abilities compared to girls’

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier pets his cat standing by the Christmas tree on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

Ukrainian troops using cat meows to ‘lure Russian troops towards booby-traps’

Aschaffenburg, Germany. 22nd Jan, 2025. Fire and rescue service vehicles are parked near the scene of a crime.

Horror as two-year-old boy and man killed in knife rampage in German park, as Afghan suspect arrested

Margo Neas holds her cat Mittens at her home in Melbourne, Australia

Mittens the cat becomes accidental jetsetter after being forgotten on a plane by mistake

The British boy, originally from Oldham, was 11 years old when he went missing while travelling with his family in Marbella, Spain, in October 2017.

Alex Batty’s mum & granddad won't face criminal charges after keeping Brit teen in commune for six years

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel confirms control of Rafah border crossing into Gaza during first phase of ceasefire deal

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in the crowd for the church service

Trump demands apology from Washington bishop who warned he was sowing fear among LGBTQ people

Donald Trump speak in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025

Pregnant women and rights groups sue Trump over ‘flagrantly illegal’ birthright citizenship executive order