Mississippi State University Removes State Flag From Campus

In August 2016, Mississippi State University stopped flying the Mississippi state flag on its campuses. At the time, the state flag included the Confederate battle flag in its upper corner. The university said it supported changing the flag, but the Mississippi Legislature had chosen not to act, so MSU took the flag down on its own as it welcomed a record number of students that fall.

The 1894 Mississippi Flag

Mississippi adopted its flag in 1894. It had three horizontal stripes of blue, white and red, with the Confederate battle flag in the canton, the upper corner near the pole. For more than a century, it was the only state flag that still carried the full battle flag design.

The People Voted to Keep It

In 2001, Mississippi held a statewide vote on the flag. Voters were asked to choose between the 1894 flag and a new design. The 1894 flag won easily, with about 64 percent of the vote. For many Mississippians, that settled the question: the people had spoken.

Even so, pressure kept building. After 2015, a number of cities, counties and all eight of the state’s public universities stopped flying the flag.

The End of the 1894 Flag

In June 2020, the Mississippi Legislature voted to retire the 1894 flag, without another vote of the people. In November 2020, voters approved a new design featuring a magnolia blossom, which became the official state flag in January 2021.

The old flag remains a symbol of pride for many Mississippians, who remember it as the flag that flew over their state for 126 years and was chosen by the voters in 2001. Learn more about Confederate flags and their meaning in 8 Facts About the Confederate Flag You Didn’t Know, and browse our Confederate flag collection.

Source: Civil War Memory: Mississippi State University Removes State Flag From Campus

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