flag of Mississippi

Part of what is today the state of Mississippi was included in the West Florida Republic, which was proclaimed in 1810 by American settlers in opposition to Spanish rule. Their flag had a blue background with a single white star in the centre. (A similar design was used in the 1830s by pro-independence Americans in Texas.) It was hoisted on January 9, 1861, when Mississippi passed its Ordinance of Secession prior to joining the Confederate States of America. The blue-and-white flag became known throughout the South as the Bonnie Blue Flag. On January 26 that same year Mississippi adopted the Magnolia Flag, featuring the native tree on a white field; the canton was blue with a central white star, thus incorporating the Bonnie Blue design. The Magnolia Flag seems not to have been used after the end of the Civil War; however, the magnolia was designated the official state tree in 1938.

A new state constitution was adopted in 1890; it was the product of a white majority that wished to minimize the influence in state affairs of local Blacks and of the federal government. As a symbol of the shift in power, on February 7, 1894, the state adopted a new flag that was probably created by U.S. Sen. E.N. Scudder. Its three horizontal stripes recalled the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy, while the Confederate Battle Flag formed its canton. The separation of the canton from the blue and red stripes by a white fimbriation (narrow border) was confirmed by gubernatorial decree in 1996.

Many Mississippians opposed the 1894 design, claiming that it recalled Black slavery and racist traditions; however, many supporters of the flag argued that it represented state pride and Southern heritage. While reviewing a related legal challenge in 2000, the state Supreme Court determined that the flag had been inadvertently omitted from a revision of the state’s statutes in 1906; therefore, the flag had ceased to be legal at that time. On May 6, 2000, the governor authorized use of the design as an interim flag, and a statewide referendum on April 17, 2001, approved the existing flag over a proposed alternative design that would have omitted the Confederate Battle Flag.

In 2020 nationwide protests over police brutality against Black Americans led to a broader examination of racial injustice in the United States, and there was renewed criticism about the presence of the Confederate Battle Flag in the state’s flag design. On June 28 Mississippi’s legislature passed a bill to retire the current version of the flag and commission the design of a new one. The bill was signed into law by the state’s governor on June 30. The law called for the new design to include the words “In God We Trust” and prohibited the use of the Confederate Battle Flag. The new design that was eventually selected incorporated a central magnolia blossom encircled by 20 white stars, one gold star, and the motto “In God We Trust” against a field of unequal vertical stripes of red, gold, and blue. It was approved by the Mississippi electorate via referendum on November 3. A bill to officially adopt the approved flag design was ratified by the state’s House of Representatives on January 5, 2021, and by the state’s Senate on January 6; it was signed into law by the governor on January 11.

The magnolia at the centre of the flag, long a symbol of Mississippi, also represents hospitality, hope, and rebirth. The circle of 20 white stars reflects Mississippi’s rank as the 20th state admitted into the United States of America; the gold star represents the Native American people who were the original inhabitants of the land that would become the state of Mississippi. The blue used in the central vertical stripe is reminiscent of the blue of the U.S. flag and represents vigilance, justice, and perseverance. Red, used in the two outer stripes, is indicative of hardiness and valour. Gold, used in two thin stripes and the stamen of the magnolia, is intended as a nod to Mississippi’s cultural heritage.