PR85386

JACKSON, Mississippi, Sept. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

--Commission Votes to Officially Name the Flag "In God We Trust"

The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag met at the Two

Mississippi Museums and selected the "New Magnolia Flag" to become the new

state flag. The commissioners submitted the design to the governor and the

legislature as instructed in House Bill 1796, which established the commission.

Mississippians will vote whether to approve the flag design on November 3.

Photo -

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Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1248034/MDAH_Logo.jpg 

The commission voted to brand the flag the "In God We Trust" flag.

The flag was designed by Rocky Vaughan, with design support provided by Sue

Anna Joe, Kara Giles, and Dominique Pugh. The design features a white magnolia

on a blue banner with red and gold bars on each end. The magnolia is encircled

by twenty five-point stars, plus a star representing indigenous Native

Americans, and the words "In God We Trust."

"Our flag should reflect the beauty and good in all of us. It should represent

a state that deserves a positive image," said Vaughan. "The New Magnolia Flag

represents the warmth and strength of the good people of Mississippi. Now is

the time we show the world that we're from Mississippi, the Magnolia State."

Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben, Sherri Carr Bevis, Frank Bordeaux, Mary Graham, Betsey

Hamilton, Robyn Tannehill, T.J. Taylor, and J. Mack Varner served on the

commission. Judge Reuben Anderson chaired the commission.

"No one worked harder to change Mississippi's flag than Governor William

Winter," said Anderson, who is also president of the Board of Trustees of the

Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). "I am thinking of him

today as Mississippi takes this historic step toward selecting a state flag

that will unify us and make us proud. I am grateful to our state leadership and

my colleagues on the commission for their commitment to moving Mississippi forward."

"MDAH was proud to support the Flag Commission in its historic work," said MDAH

director Katie Blount. "We were especially gratified to see the public engage

so significantly in the process. The commissioners worked hard, listening to

the experts and to the people, and they came up with a great design to present

to voters on November 3."

On July 1, 2020, Mississippi retired the state's 1894 flag -- the last state

flag in the nation to incorporate the Confederate battle flag. The legislature

directed that the new design must not contain that flag but must include the

words "In God We Trust."

All of the meetings were broadcast live on the MDAH Facebook page and placed on

the MDAH YouTube Channel (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2906852-1&h=3379254665&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FMDAHVideo&a=MDAH+YouTube+Channel ) afterwards.

Media Availability:

The Honorable Reuben Anderson, chairman of the Commission to Redesign the

Mississippi State Flag and president of the Mississippi Department of Archives

& History Board of Trustees. Judge Anderson was the first African American to

serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Katie Blount, Director, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

For More information or to schedule interviews contact:

Michael Morris, MDAH Director of Public Relations. mmorris@mdah.ms.gov or

601.576.6822

Holly Lange, Lange Management, holly@langemanagement.com, or 601.906.8698

SOURCE: Mississippi Department of Archives & History