Public ideas for Mississippi flag: Magnolias, stars, beer

Posted: Aug 4, 2020 / 07:21 PM CDT / Updated: Aug 4, 2020 / 07:21 PM CDT

Magnolias, stars, a Gulf Coast lighthouse, a teddy bear, and even Kermit the Frog appear on some of the over 1,800 proposals submitted by the general public for a new Mississippi flag and posted Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History web site. The state recently retired the last state banner with the Confederate battle emblem that’s widely condemned as racist and a nine-member commission will design a replacement that cannot include the Confederate symbol and must have the phrase, “In God We Trust.” (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, via AP)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Magnolias, stars, guitars, beer cans, crawfish, a Gulf Coast lighthouse. Elvis Presley and Kermit the Frog.

All appear on proposals submitted by the general public for a new Mississippi flag. Mississippi recently retired the last state banner with the Confederate battle emblem that’s widely condemned as racist.

A commission will design a replacement that cannot include the Confederate symbol and must have the phrase, “In God We Trust.”

The public submitted more than 1,800 proposals. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History posted those to its website Monday.

By early September, commissioners will choose a single design to put on the Nov. 3 statewide ballot.