Mississippi flag: Magnolia could replace old rebel symbol

1 of 17 |

The magnolia flower centered banner chosen Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 by the Mississippi State Flag Commission flies adjacent to the American flag in a brisk wind, outside the Old State Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson, Miss. The nine member committee voted to recommend a design with the state flower, now known as the “In God We Trust,” flag. That design will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if approved, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

2 of 17 |

The magnolia centered banner chosen Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 by the Mississippi State Flag Commission flies outside the Old State Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson, Miss. The nine member committee voted to recommend a design with the state flower. That design will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if approved, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

3 of 17 |

4 of 17 |

5 of 17 |

The magnolia centered banner chosen Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 by the Mississippi State Flag Commission flies adjacent to the American flag in a brisk wind, outside the Old State Capitol Museum in downtown Jackson, Miss. The nine member committee voted to recommend a design with the state flower. That design will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if approved, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

6 of 17 |

Reuben Anderson, chairman of the Mississippi State Flag Commission, addresses the members and observers gathered after the commission voted the New Magnolia Flag to be on the November ballot for Mississippians to decide if they want it as the new state flag, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 in Jackson, Miss. The flag will now be known as the “In God We Trust Flag,” as per a vote by the commission. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

7 of 17 |

One of five final designs for the new Mississippi state flag flutters in the breeze, outside the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 25, 2020, in Jackson, Miss. In late June, Mississippi legislators voted to retire the last state flag to include the Confederate battle emblem, which is broadly condemned as racist. All five were flown outside the museum for viewing. The Mississippi State Flag Commission narrowed their choices to two flags, of which this is one. They will reconvene in September to make their final choice. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

8 of 17 |

Rocky Vaughan, 43, poses for a portrait in his office at DogPound Printing in Starkville, Miss., on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020. Vaughan’s design for the new state flag was picked as one of nine finalists by the Mississippi State Flag Commission after the state Legislature retired the old flag June 30. Commissioners combined elements from his flag with other designs, which became “The New Magnolia” flag — one of the two finalists in the last round. (Yue Stella Yo/The Commercial Dispatch via AP)

9 of 17 |

This Jan. 26, 2020, photo provided by Sue Anna Joe shows a selfie of Joe. Joe, a Mississippi native who now lives in San Francisco, submitted a magnolia design that became part of a proposed state flag in Mississippi. (Sue Anna Joe via AP)

10 of 17 |

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Chief Cyrus Ben asks a question as members of the state flag commission begin final discussion on their choice for a new state flag to be considered by voters in November, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 in Jackson, Miss. The magnolia centered banner was chosen and will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if the majority votes yes, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

11 of 17 |

Commission member Mary Graham votes for her flag choice during a meeting of the Mississippi State Flag Commission, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss. The magnolia centered banner was chosen by the nine-member committee and will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if the majority votes yes, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

12 of 17 |

Mississippi State Flag Commission member TJ Taylor suggests the New Magnolia Flag, selected by the nine-member commission during their meeting Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, in Jackson, Miss., be known as the “In God We Trust Flag.” The name change was per a vote by the commission. The magnolia flower centered flag will go before voters in November and if is approved by the majority of the voters, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

13 of 17 |

Mississippi State Flag Commission Chairman Rueben Anderson, seated, reviews the results of the commission vote on the flag to be placed on the November ballot during a meeting at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. The New Magnolia Flag, is now known as the “In God We Trust Flag” as per a vote by the commission and will be on the ballot in the fall.3(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

14 of 17 |

Mississippi State Flag Commission member Sherri Carr Bevis surrenders her ballot after voting for her flag choice during a meeting of the Mississippi State Flag Commission, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss. The magnolia centered banner was chosen by the nine-member committee and will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if the majority votes yes, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

15 of 17 |

Commission member Mack Varner reacts to a question during a meeting of the Mississippi State Flag Commission, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss. The magnolia centered banner was chosen by the nine-member committee and will go on the November ballot for voters consideration and if the majority votes yes, it will become the new state flag. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

16 of 17 |

Members of the Mississippi State Flag Commission pose for a photo after a meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss., during which they voted for the New Magnolia Flag as the choice to go on the November ballot to be voted upon to be the new state flag. During the meeting, the commission also voted the flag to now be known as the “In God We Trust Flag”. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

17 of 17 |

Mississippi Flag Commission members Katie Blount, left, and Commission Chairman Reuben Anderson talk with media after the commission voted the new magnolia flag to be on the November ballot for Mississippians to decide if they want it as the new state flag, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

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.

Other news

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, with the U.S. Capitol in the distance, Nov. 4, 2020. It's hard to imagine a less contentious or more innocent word than “and.” But how to interpret the simple conjunction has prompted a complicated legal fight that lands in the Supreme Court on the first day of its new term next week. What the justices decide could affect thousands of prison sentences each year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The Supreme Court will hear a case with a lot of ‘buts’ & ‘ifs’ over the meaning of ‘and’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is welcomed at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters, where he was felicitated a day after the women's reservation bill was passed by the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, Friday, Sep. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/STR)

India had been riding a geopolitical high. But it comes to the UN with a mess on its hands

FILE - This illustration provided by NASA depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. On Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, the spacecraft will fly by Earth and drop off what is expected to be at least a cupful of rubble it grabbed from the asteroid Bennu, closing out a seven-year quest. (Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA via AP, File)

NASA’s first asteroid samples streaking toward Earth after release from spacecraft

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. Four live in Mississippi, and the others live in San Francisco and Massachusetts.

Graphic designer Rocky Vaughan of Ackerman, Mississippi, created the overall design of the magnolia flag, which was altered with work from others. He said Tuesday that he started working on designs years ago, when Mississippi residents were bickering about the flag with the Confederate image.

“What I wanted to do was show every Mississippian that there’s a compromise out there, and we are the magnolia state,” said Vaughan, 43. “If it’s appealing to the eyes, it will be accepted.”

The magnolia on that flag came from Sue Anna Joe, a Greenwood native living in San Francisco. Her parents were born in China, and they moved to the United States in the 1960s. Joe, 44, said Tuesday that as a person of Chinese background growing up in Mississippi, she felt “disassociated” with the flag the state had used since 1894. She heard white people say the Confederate symbol represented their ancestors and African Americans say it represented slavery.

“I felt like I was part of a broken family,” she said.

Joe said she watched online as Mississippi legislators voted to retire the old flag. Because she has worked in design, she felt it was her civic duty to submit a proposal. She chose a magnolia because she believes the flower is an easily recognizable symbol of Mississippi.

“I still very much love my home state,” Joe said.

Kara Giles of Oxford also worked on the magnolia flag. She’s a graphic designer and executive assistant to Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill, who is one of the nine flag commissioners. Giles tweaked the design to strengthen some elements of it.

The other flag with the red-and-white shield on a dark blue background also had the single star made of diamond shapes. The banner, nicknamed the “Great River Flag,” is by graphic designer Micah Whitson, who grew up in Alabama, graduated from the University of Mississippi and now lives in Boston. The commission Wednesday also gave Whitson, 39, credit for helping design the magnolia flag.

___

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.