Mississippi commission selects new flag design, voters will decide whether to adopt it

A Mississippi commission has chosen a new flag design after state leaders earlier this year moved to retire the previous version that included a controversial Confederate symbol.

Voters will now be tasked with either approving or rejecting the new design recommended by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag that prominently showcases a white magnolia flower.

"The flag was designed by Rocky Vaughan, with design support provided by Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles, Dominique Pugh, and Micah Whitson," according to a press release from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“Our flag should reflect the beauty and good in all of us. It should represent a state that deserves a positive image,” Vaughan said. “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.”

Mississippi lawmakers and Gov. Tate Reeves earlier this year approved legislation that called for retiring the state flag and developing a new flag devoid of the Confederate battle flag design. The legislation also mandated that the new flag design include the phrase "In God We Trust."

Mississippi had been the last state to have the Confederate symbol on its flag.

The move to ditch the previous flag came as significant national attention had been focused on issues such as race and policing in the aftermath of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minnesota that sparked outrage across the country.