Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag

House Bill 1796 established the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag and instructed the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) to provide clerical support for the commission. According to the bill, the purpose of the commission is to develop, design, and report to the governor and the legislature its recommendation for the design of the new state flag no later than September 14.

Over the course of two months, the nine-member commission, led by former Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, considered thousands of designs and took into consideration historical elements and good flag design principles.

The commission announced its recommendation of the “In God We Trust” flag on September 2. Mississippians voted to approve the flag design on November 3, 2020.

The first action of the state legislature during the 2021 session was passage of House Bill No. 1, which enacts the new design into law. On Monday, January 11, 2021, Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill ratifying the newly adopted state flag.

Commission Meeting Videos

Judge Reuben Anderson's Closing Remarks at Final Flag Commission Meeting
At the conclusion of the fifth and final meeting of the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, commission chair and former state Supreme Court justice Reuben Anderson made brief remarks about his experience serving on the commission and the historic nature of its work.
Meeting 1
At its first meeting held on July 22 at the Two Mississippi Museums--Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag set August 1 as the new deadline for the public to submit designs for a new state flag.
Meeting 2
The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag met on Tuesday, July 28, at the Two Mississippi Museums.
Meeting 3
On August 14, 2020, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag selected nine designs to advance to the next round (pending clearance of intellectual property rights).
Meeting 4
The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag met on August 18, 2020, and selected five flags to move to the final round (pending clearance of intellectual property rights).
Meeting 5
On August 25, 2020, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag gathered at the Old Capitol Museum and raised manufactured versions of the five flag finalists on the flagpole. Afterwards, the commission members held a meeting at the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Meeting 6
On September 2, 2020, 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.

Image Use

The intellectual rights to the "In God We Trust" flag design have been cleared. The design is owned by the state of Mississippi and can be freely used by members of the public. There are no costs associated with using the design. The image is courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Download the flag design HERE in vector format (EPS/Illustrator). For web, Facebook, and Twitter use, right-click on the image below and choose "Save As" to download the image. 

Download the state flag coloring sheet HERE.

Web

The Proposed Mississippi Flag

Facebook

The Proposed Mississippi Flag

Twitter

The Proposed Mississippi Flag

Download Coloring Sheet

Click on the image and download the state flag coloring sheet.

State Flag Coloring Sheet

Flag Commission News

Other Links

The new state flag and other products featuring the design are for sale at Mississippi Museum Store at the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. For more information call 601-576-6921 or email store@mdah.ms.gov.

For questions or information related to the flag commission, email msflag@mdah.ms.gov.

Commission Members

Appointed by House Speaker Philip Gunn

Dr. Mary Graham
President of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

Robyn Tannehill
Mayor of Oxford

TJ Taylor
Policy advisor for House Speaker Philip Gunn

Appointed by Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann

Judge Reuben Anderson
Former Supreme Court Justice and MDAH Board of Trustees President

Sherri Carr Bevis
Community Relations Liaison to the Singing River Health System and former teacher

J. Mack Varner
Vicksburg attorney

Appointed by Governor Tate Reeves

Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben
Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Mississippi Economic Council representative

Frank Bordeaux
Vice President, Property and Casualty for BXS Insurance in Mississippi
Mississippi Arts Commission representative

Betsey Hamilton
Real estate broker and appraiser
Mississippi Department of Archives and History representative

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