On June 28, 2020, the Legislature passed House Bill 1796, a bill that relinquished the Mississippi state flag, removing it from public buildings within 15 days of the bill’s effective date, and constituted a nine-member commission to design a new flag.
Finalists for New Mississippi Flag
The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag received nearly 3,000 submissions that met the legislative criteria for the new Mississippi State Flag. By August 7th, they’d narrowed the entries to a maximum of 225. By August 10th, to 147. Of those, the Commissioners selected these nine as the finalists on August 14th.
On August 14, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag selected these nine designs to advance to the next round (pending clearance of intellectual property rights).
The nine flags and a nonbinding online public poll where you can vote for your favorite design has been placed on the MDAH website here. A public comment period will begin on August 25. The poll and comments section will close at noon on September 1.
The commission will meet again on August 18 (8 a.m.), August 25 (10:30 a.m.), and September 2 (10:30 a.m.). The commission will select a design to submit to the governor and the legislature at the September 2 meeting.
Information and flag designs courtesy of The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH)