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Mississippi 2001 Flag Referendum

by Clay Moss

On April 17, 2001, the people of the state of Mississippi voted in the historic state flag referendum. At the ballot box, voters were asked to decide if the current flag adopted in 1894 was to remain Mississippi's flag or if a recommended alternative (above) would become the new flag. The referendum came about as the result of a Mississippi Supreme Court decision, based on a legal technicality. They declared that the 1894 flag had not been "reconfirmed" when the state constitution was rewritten in 1906, and was thus unofficial. Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove immediately formed a flag committee to determine how the state should respond and proceed.

The committee was an eclectic group of individuals and was headed up by former Governor William Winter. After a series of "town meetings" and meetings with state legislative officials, it was decided that a state wide vote was the most prudent action to take. While the flag committee was about its collective business, a flag design sub-committee was given the task of putting together a flag contest in order to determine if a qualified state flag replacement was in the hands of an artist somewhere in the state. Simultaneously, they were looking at in house alternatives of their own in case nothing from the contest caught anyone's eye.

Ultimately, a design was decided on (below), after much debate and agonizing. It was publicly presented to the state in December, 2000. However, privately, the Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate were given 5 other designs to consider, all of which were similar to the flag committees recommended design. Ultimately, the alternative design illustrated above won the day in state government, and was placed on the ballot as Mississippi's possible new state flag.

There was a great deal of anticipation swirling around the outcome of the flag vote, but when all was said and done, the 1894 flag was still flying as Mississippi's flag. Only now, it was again official, by a vote of 65% to 35%.

Many believed that Mississippians voted along racial lines. However, this was not necessarily the case. As a matter of pragmatic fact, only 13% of Caucasian voters had to vote for change in order for the new flag to be victorious at the ballot box. Unofficial and unscientific exit polls suggested that more than 20% of white voters said the flag should change. What's more interesting is that in certain counties where an overwhelming majority of the population is African American, the vote was roughly split.

Contrary to media reports and popular belief, I did not design the alternative flag. I was the vexillological advisor to Governor Winter and the flag committee. I was also the committee's illustrator and drew up all of the new flag proposals. Credit for the new design has to be given to about 8 or 9 people, all of which coincidentally submitted the same basic design. I modified the designs mainly by giving them proportional clarity.

The symbolism in the flag is rather simple. The colors correspond with the colors of the US flag and represent the same traditional virtues. In the constellation of stars, the outer 13 stars represent the original 13 US states. The 6 stars in the inner circle represent the 6 sovereign entities that have governed Mississippi. Alphabetically, they are, the