Mississippi voters have approved a new flag that will replace the old one, which featured a Confederate battle emblem.
The new flag, which features a magnolia blossom in the center, was adopted via a public referendum that received 68% of the vote, according to results reported by NBC News on Tuesday night. The flag was designed by graphic artist Rocky Vaughan.
The flower is “a symbol long-used to represent our state and the hospitality of our citizens,” according to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
The old banner, adopted by lawmakers in 1894, featured blue and white stripes and a Confederate battle emblem in the upper left-hand corner.
In a 2001 statewide vote, a majority of voters chose to keep it as is, but the flag faced renewed backlash in 2020 amid nationwide protests against racial inequality and police brutality.
In June, the Mississippi legislature made the historic decision to do away with the Confederate iconography on the state flag, after which Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed the legislation it produced.
In early September, after narrowing down a list of redesign proposals to two, a group of commissioners voted by an 8-1 margin in favor of the New Magnolia, which features a magnolia, the Mississippi state flower, on a navy background surrounded by white stars with one gold star at the top. Thin gold stripes and thick red stripes sit on either side of the magnolia. Under the flower rests the words, “In God we trust.”
Monuments and statues of Confederate leaders have been taken down, either by local governments or by protesters, during a summer of unrest across the country. Congress removed portraits honoring House speakers who were part of the Confederate government.
