Mississippi raises new flag over state capitol
By Emily Wagster Pettus
(Credit: Leo Honeycutt, Mississippi Department of Corrections)
JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi hoisted a new state flag without the Confederate battle emblem on Monday, just over six months after legislators retired the last state banner in the U.S. that included the divisive rebel symbol.
The new flag has a magnolia and the phrase, In God We Trust. Voters approved the design in November, and Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday signed a law to make it an official state symbol. A new chapter in our history begins today, one of the leaders in changing the flag, Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn, told more than 100 people who gathered in near-freezing weather to watch the new flag being raised outside the state Capitol.
Mississippi governor signs law for flag without rebel emblem
Emily Wagster Pettus
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Members of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Honor Guard prepare to raise the new Mississippi State flag at the Capitol in Jackson, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Earlier in the afternoon, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed a law that created the new state flag with magnolia at the center, six months after the state retired the last state flag in the U.S. that included the Confederate battle emblem. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi hoisted a new state flag without the Confederate battle emblem on Monday, just over six months after legislators retired the last state banner in the U.S. that included the divisive rebel symbol.