Flag of Mississippi
 | |
| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | April 23, 1894 |
| Design | Three horizontal stripes of blue, white and red. The canton is square, spans 2 stripes, consists of a red background with a blue saltire, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen (13) five pointed stars. |
The flag of the State of Mississippi was adopted by the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1894, replacing the flag that had been adopted in 1861.
It is the sole remaining U.S. state flag which bears the Confederate battle flag's saltire.
Pledge to the Mississippi State Flag
The pledge to the state flag is:
I salute the flag of Mississippi and the sovereign state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God.
— [1]
1861 flag
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When Mississippi seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861, near the beginning of the Civil War, the Bonnie Blue Flag (a single white star on a blue field) was raised over the capitol building in Jackson as a sign of independence. On January 26, Mississippi officially adopted a new flag which included the Bonnie Blue Flag in its canton and a magnolia tree in its center field. Known as the Magnolia Flag, it remained in use until 1894, when the current flag was adopted.
1894 flag
In 1894 a new flag was adopted by the Mississippi Legislature in a Special Session. Mississippi Code, Title 3, Chapter 3 describes the flag as follows:
§ 3-3-16. Design of state flag. The official flag of the State of Mississippi shall have the following design: with width two-thirds (2/3) of its length; with the union (canton) to be square, in width two-thirds (2/3) of the width of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and a broad blue saltire thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen (13) mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding with the number of the original States of the Union; the field to be divided into three (3) bars of equal width, the upper one blue, the center one white, and the lower one, extending the whole length of the flag, red (the national colors); this being the flag adopted by the Mississippi Legislature in the 1894 Special Session.[2]
2001 flag referendum
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In 2000, the Supreme Court of Mississippi ruled[3] that state legislation in 1906 had repealed the adoption of the state flag in 1894, so what was considered to be the official state flag was only so through custom and usage.[4] Governor Ronnie Musgrove appointed an independent commission which developed a new proposed design,[4] and on April 17, 2001, a state referendum to change the flag was put before Mississippi voters. The proposal would have replaced the Confederate battle flag with a blue canton with 20 stars. The outer ring of 13 stars would represent the original Thirteen Colonies, the ring of six stars would represent the six nations that have had sovereignty over Mississippi territory (various Indian nations as a collective nation, France, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederate States), and the inner and slightly larger star would represent Mississippi itself. The 20 stars would also represent Mississippi's status as the 20th member of the United States.[5] The new flag was soundly defeated in a vote of 64% (488,630 votes) to 36% (267,812) and the old flag was retained.[6]
See also
- Symbols of the State of Mississippi
- Great Seal of the State of Mississippi
- Flags of the Confederate States of America
References
- ^ Mississippi Code Ann., Section 37-13-7 (1972)
- ^ http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/ms_flag.htm
- ^ Mississippi Division of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Mississippi State Conference of NAACP Branches, 774 So.2d 388 (Miss. 2000)
- ^ a b Dedman IV, James M. (Fall 2001). "At Daggers Drawn: The Confederate Flag and the School Classroom - A Case Study of a Broken First Amendment Formula". Baylor Law Review. 53: 877, 883.
- ^ "Mississippi will retain its 107-year-old flag". CNN. 2001-04-17. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Election Results" (PDF). State of Mississippi. 2001-04-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
