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Flower power: Mississippi flag commission picks final design

JACKSON, Miss. — The Magnolia State could be getting a magnolia flag in November.

A Mississippi commission chose the fragrant flower for its state flag Wednesday, and voters will decide in November whether to adopt the design.

The Mississippi Flag Commission chose between the Magnolia flag and the Great River flag, WJTV reported. The commission adopted the design by an 8-1 margin, according to Mississippi Today.

The final design was selected from nearly 3,000 proposals submitted to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

The commission voted to call the design the “In God We Trust” flag, WJTV reported. It replaced the Confederate-themed flag that was adopted as the state flag in 1894, Mississippi Today reported. On July 1, the state retired the flag, which contained the Confederate battle emblem.

The flag was designed by Rocky Vaughan and features a white magnolia set against a blue banner with red and gold bars on each end. The magnolia is encircled by 20 five-point stars, signifying Mississippi’s admission as the 20th state in the Union on Dec. 10, 1817. There is also a star representing indigenous Native Americans, and the motto “In God We Trust” is placed beneath the magnolia.

Under rules adopted by the Legislature, the next flag had to contain “In God We Trust” and was not allowed to make reference to the Confederate battle flag, the Clarion-Ledger reported.

“Our flag should reflect the beauty and good in all of us. It should represent a state that deserves a positive image,” Vaughan told WJTV. “The New Magnolia Flag represents the warmth and strength of the good people of Mississippi. Now is the time we show the world that we’re from Mississippi, the Magnolia State.”

Reuben Anderson, the first Black to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court, chaired the commission and spoke after the measure passed.

“I grew up in Mississippi in the ’40s and ’50s, and all of my life Mississippi has been at the bottom, 50th, in whatever category you can think of,” Anderson said. “Whether income, health care or education, we’ve always been on the bottom. On Nov. 3, I think that’ll start to change. We want to move to the top, but I can assure you we will move. And how in the world is it that Mississippi would be on the bottom with all of the tremendous assets and resources that we have?

“There’s no reason for us to be on the bottom. We will be on the bottom all of my lifetime, but my children and grandchildren will see us ascend, and it’ll happen because of what you have done to bring this great object to the people of Mississippi to vote on.”

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