The Mississippi Department of Archives and History wants your input on the two final proposals currently being considered by the Mississippi Flag Commission.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the nine-member commission voted to eliminate three of the five finalists ahead of next Wednesday’s final vote — setting up a showdown between the ‘Great River Flag’ & the ‘New Magnolia Flag’. The public comment period and the non-binding public poll will be open until noon on September 1st. To vote for your favorite or to provide your comments, click here.
On its website, the MDAH has included additional background information on each design, which can be seen below.
The Great River Flag:
- Designer: Micah Whitson
“The design features a shield based on the 1798 seal of the Mississippi Territory below a five-point star on a blue banner. There are twenty marks on the shield: eighteen vertical lines in red representing the three nations that occupied the Mississippi Territory (Spain, France, and Great Britain), and two white river waves representing the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. “In God We Trust” is written in a typeface that would have been used when Mississippi became a state in 1817. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice; red presents hardiness and valor.
Each of the five flag designs incorporate a segmented star comprised of diamonds, a reference to the eastern diamondback rattlesnake which is revered in Native American cultures. The star was added by the commission members. In “The Great River Flag,” the star also represents the five regions of the state.
Whitman wrote, “The Great River Flag endeavors to capture as much of that into one unique image that supports Mississippi’s other meaningful symbols—the mockingbird, magnolia, and others—while standing on its own.” Read more at greatriverflag.com.”
The New Magnolia Flag:
- Designers: Kara Giles, Sue Anna Joe, and Rocky Vaughan
“The New Magnolia flag is anchored in the center field by a clean and modern Magnolia blossom, a symbol long-used to represent our state and the hospitality of our citizens. The New Magnolia also represents Mississippi’s sense of hope and rebirth, as the Magnolia often blooms more than once and has a long blooming season. The New Magnolia is sleek and updated to represent the forward progression of Mississippi.
The circle of twenty stars represents Mississippi as the twentieth state of the United States of America and is anchored by the gold five-point star, which stands alone. This star represents our first peoples, the indigenous Native American tribes of the land that would become Mississippi.
The color blue in the main field of the flag echoes the blue of the American flag, representing vigilance, justice, perseverance, while the bands of red represent hardiness and valor. The gold lines and the gold stamen of the New Magnolia are a nod to the rich cultural history of Mississippi, specifically the visual arts, literature, music, and performing arts to originate in our state.”
