# Mississippi, It's Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 29, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600 "2020-06-29T01:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/1 "2020-06-29T01:59:41Z")
Mississippi voted to remove the loser flag portion of their state flag. Story: [https://abc7chicago.com/society/mississippi-lawmakers-vote-to-remove-confederate-battle-emblem-from-flag/6278886/](https://abc7chicago.com/society/mississippi-lawmakers-vote-to-remove-confederate-battle-emblem-from-flag/6278886/) Song: [Steve Earle - Mississippi It's Time - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnttYRH1YmM) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/2 "2020-06-29T02:39:05Z")
Yes, In fact MO didnt even have a state flag until 1861, when it adopted the Magnolia Flag, which admittedly sorta has a CSA feel to it, maybe. It wasnt until 1894 that MO adopted the loser battle flag, for purely racist reasons. (it has had two minor changes since then). Note that in 2001 there was a referendum, with 64% of the state voting loser racist. Note that the coat of arms of Alabama still displays the racist loser flag. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/3 "2020-06-29T04:01:52Z")
Observation: MO is Missouri. Mississippi is MS. As to the Magnolia Flag, it evokes the Bonnie Blue and was used in the actual secession… but if we have Georgia actually using the friggin’ original Stars and Bars as a “compromise”… Interesting that apparently for most of its existence the current MS flag has been technically “customary” and not “official”. However, it seems that the legislators, in their usual wisdom, will encumber their state with an official ensign that violates some vexillological Best Practices: > A commission would design a new flag that cannot include the Confederate symbol and that must have the words “In God We Trust.” Words and mottos should be avoided in a well designed flag. But given that this is how what passes for lawmakers function I’ll let them have it lest they make things even worse. Again refer to the Georgia Flag Follies at the start of this century. Forcing the phrase kind of screws up already [previously proposed alternates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mississippi#Proposals_to_change_the_flag) but it could be shoved in as semi-encircling the proposed starfields in one of them. Just please not another plain blue field with the seal and the motto in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/4 "2020-06-29T14:37:04Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Words and mottos should be avoided in a well designed flag To be fair, it is a rule of thumb that is violated for the majority of existing state flags. [Washington stands out.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Washington) They put the state seal in the center of a green background. That is not uncommon. The state seal is a picture of George Washington surrounded by a border bearing the words “The Seal of The State Of Washington 1889.” So the state flag identifies itself in writing as the state seal. MS should be able to stumble over that low bar for flag design quality . ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/5 "2020-06-29T16:33:11Z")
And at least that’s still not as bad as Arkansas, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma or Wisconsin. Seals also break the rule of thumb but if it’s an easily recognizable one like Washington’s it’s not that bad, the scroll will be illegible anyway. However if you have to write it out in big bold letters what flag you are, you started out intending to fail. I’ll also recognize Washigton (and New Jersey) for the minimal effort **not** making it a blue or white background so they are actually recognizable at a distance. Looking at the seal of Misssissippi, it is [generic as tap water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Mississippi#/media/File:Seal_of_Mississippi_(2014%E2%80%93present).svg). But it DOES include the “In God We Trust” phrase (added in 2014, because of course they had to make a point); so the “lazy” alternative would be keep the pattern but substitute seal-on-whatever-background for the CBF in the canton. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/6 "2020-06-29T16:43:09Z")
Thing is, Arkansans seem to take pride in the name of our state, so I get it being on the flag. What I want us to remove is that fourth star. The blue stars represent the countries Arkansas has been a part of: Spain, France, the United States, and then, yes, the Confederacy. And that star was added in 1923. Oh, and it’s the one off by itself, too, that looks like it’s above all the others. And, unlike the other three, it has no additional meaning. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/7 "2020-06-29T16:50:49Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > > A commission would design a new flag that cannot include the Confederate symbol and that must have the words “In God We Trust.” > > Words and mottos should be avoided in a well designed flag. But given that this is how what passes for lawmakers function I’ll let them have it lest they make things even worse. Again refer to the Georgia Flag Follies at the start of this century. It is long past time for Mississippi to get rid of the emblem of the Slave Power on its state flag. That said, in addition to the vexillological issue with having words on flags, it is also extremely irritating that we seem to have adopted a new standard (previously seen [here in Georgia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Georgia_(U.S._state))) that when we change a flag to stop saying “Fuck you, African-Americans!” we apparently must have the new flag say “Fuck you, atheists!” instead. Really, the [“Hospitality flag”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stennis-flag-Mississippi-proposal.svg) would have been perfectly fine. Not the most original of American state flags, but very far from the worst, and it wouldn’t even say “Fuck you!” to anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/8 "2020-06-29T20:20:06Z")
I brought this up in the Trump Clusterf\*\*k thread but it seems more appropriate here: There’s also a suggestion that Ole Miss [change the name of the school’s sports teams](https://247sports.com/Article/Ole-Miss-Rebels-name-Mississippi-state-flag-Lane-Kiffin-148334077/) from “Rebels.” Hell, maybe they should think about dropping that “Ole MIss” crap, too. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/9 "2020-06-29T22:22:47Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And at least that’s still not as bad as Arkansas, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma or Wisconsin. Seals also break the rule of thumb but if it’s an easily recognizable one like Washington’s it’s not that bad, the scroll will be illegible anyway. However if you have to write it out in big bold letters what flag you are, you started out intending to fail I want to single out my state’s (Oregon) flag for violating just about every rule of good flag design around. Not only does it have the very busy state seal and the name of the state in big letters, but the reverse is totally different from the front. > **[Flag of Oregon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Oregon)** > > The flag of the state of Oregon is a two-sided flag in navy blue and gold with an optional gold fringe. On the front is the escutcheon from the state seal and on the reverse is a gold figure of a beaver, the state animal. Oregon is the only U.S. State to feature different designs on either side of its flag (the flag of Massachusetts was changed in 1971 to be single-sided). > The current flag of Oregon became official on February 26, 1925. What is believed to be the first flag of Oregon produced w... ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/10 "2020-06-30T05:41:01Z")
> **[Georgia Adds Swastika, Middle Finger To State Flag](https://www.theonion.com/georgia-adds-swastika-middle-finger-to-state-flag-1819586548)** > > The Onion brings you all of the latest news, stories, photos, videos and more from America's finest news source. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/11 "2020-07-01T02:01:29Z")
OK, Mississippi, looks like it’s official. Congratulations. Really. > **[With a pen stroke, Mississippi drops Confederate-themed flag](https://apnews.com/f25b1fd65fd9ae48c152f026016603eb)** > > JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — With a stroke of the governor’s pen, Mississippi is retiring the last state flag in the U... It’s kind of like congratulaing an adult for being able to tie his own shoes, but still, Mississippi did the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/12 "2020-07-16T06:07:13Z")
“Hold my beer.” They havent approved a new flag yet. Those idiots are perfectly capable of getting a worse flag. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-its-time/913600/13 "2020-07-18T15:23:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Those idiots are perfectly capable of getting a worse flag. Picture this: The Battle Flag is replaced with the Redskins logo. 🤪