Submissions for new flag designs are now due August 1 by email or mail to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Members of the flag commission met at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. They believe making the deadline sooner will give them more time to study what is more than 600 new designs already submitted. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn joined them and addressed the commission regarding the legacy of their task.
"So, we need something that represents all of Mississippians... that says who we are as a people," said Gunn. "And that task falls to each of you who agreed to serve in this capacity. We are making history here. You are making history." He said,"Whatever design you come up with is going to represent this state probably forever."
Legislators voted in late June to retire the 126-year-old Mississippi banner with its Confederate emblem. The new flag cannot include the emblem but must include the phrase "In God We Trust."
Commissioners also selected Reuben Anderson as board chairman. He was the first African American justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Three seats on the 9-member commission remain empty, although the deadline for appointments was July 15. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Speaker Gunn announced their appointees last week. But as of Wednesday, Governor Tate Reeves said he'll get to it.
"We are going to make those appointments just as soon as we can," said Reeves. But I do worry about the constitutionality of certain legislative leaders making appointments to executive agency positions."
Officials with the department of archives and history say the process of redesigning the state flag will continue to move forward and the commission will meet again next week.
