"Historic Protests for Black Lives Sweep Mississippi Over Weekend", "About 40 Republican House votes are needed to change the state flag.

The act stipulated that any design proposed by the commission must include the words "In God We Trust" and must not contain the Confederate battle flag.

In a statement, Baptist leaders said: "The racial overtones of the flag's appearance make this discussion a moral issue.

", First published on June 28, 2020 / 6:59 PM. (A similar design was used in the 1830s by pro-independence Americans in Texas.) "[23], On February 7, 1894, the Legislature replaced the Civil War era Magnolia Flag with a new one designed by Edward N. Scudder, that incorporated the Confederate battle flag in its canton.

[80][81][82][83], On June 28, 2020, the Legislature passed a bill, House Bill 1796, that would relinquish the state flag, remove the state flag from public buildings within 15 days of the bill's effective date, and constitute a nine-member commission to design a new flag that would be put to voters in a referendum to be held in November 2020. Former Director, Flag Research Center, Winchester, Massachusetts.

Earlier this month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced his intention to remove a towering statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Richmond's historic Monument Avenue.

Mississippians will vote on a replacement flag in the November election. The 13 stars on the state flag officially represented "the number of the original states of the Union"; though they are sometimes thought to have been for states that seceded from the Union, plus Missouri and Kentucky which had Union and Confederate governments.[5].

The commission announced that they would narrow these designs down to five finalists at its next meeting on August 18. [27][24] In 2000, the Supreme Court of Mississippi confirmed that the state legislature had in 1906 repealed the 1894 adoption of the state flag;[28] the flag used since then and considered official had actually only been customary or traditional. [76], The Mississippi Baptist Convention condemned the current state flag on June 23, 2020.

[109], On September 2, the commission voted 8–1 to put the New Magnolia flag on the November ballot. [97] The deadline was moved to August 1st to allow time for the commission to complete the selection process. But the flag still flies in front of many public buildings, including the state capitol building and the Governor's mansion. This plan was soundly rejected by Governor Tate Reeves who compared it to the separate but equal doctrine, stating that if implemented it wouldn't "satisfy either side of this debate". One of the new specialty plates will include the Stennis flag along with the phrase "History + Hope + Hospitality".