House Bill 372

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 3-3-16, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE HISTORICAL MAGNOLIA FLAG WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL DESIGN OF THE OFFICIAL STATE FLAG; TO PROVIDE THAT EACH OF THE DESIGNS OF THE OFFICIAL FLAG WILL BE OF EQUAL STATUS AND DIGNITY IN REPRESENTING THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, AND EACH DESIGN MAY BE FLOWN INDIVIDUALLY AS THE OFFICIAL FLAG OR THEY MAY BE FLOWN TOGETHER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, on December 10, 1817, Mississippi was admitted to the United States as the 20th state of the Union, and in 2017, the State of Mississippi celebrated its bicentennial as a state; and

WHEREAS, as we are entering our third century of statehood, we also reflect back upon our long and eventful history, and desire to adopt a distinctive symbol of our statehood with meaningful roots in our state's history to coincide with our bicentennial; and

WHEREAS, Mississippi did not have an official state flag in its early years of statehood, and it was not until 1861 that the first official flag was adopted, the Magnolia Flag, which flew as the official state flag from 1861 through 1865 and continued in use as a state flag until 1894; and

WHEREAS, the original state flag of Mississippi is a distinctive symbol of our state that represents and honors our history, and we feel that it is most appropriate to adopt the historical Magnolia Flag as an additional design of the official state flag that may be flown with equal status and dignity to represent our state as we are beginning our third century as a member of the United States; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 3-3-16, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

3-3-16. (1) The official flag of the State of Mississippi shall * * *~~have~~ be each of the following designs:

(a) With width two-thirds (2/3) of its length; with the union (canton) to be square, in width two-thirds (2/3) of the width of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and a broad blue saltire thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen (13) mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding with the number of the original States of the Union; the field to be divided into three (3) bars of equal width, the upper one blue, the center one white, and the lower one, extending the whole length of the flag, red (the national colors); this being the flag adopted by the Mississippi Legislature in the 1894 Special Session * * *.; and

(b) The width is two-thirds (2/3) of its length; the canton is square, having a width one-third (1/3) of the width of the flag; the color of the canton is dark blue with a five-pointed white star in the center; the field is white with a dark green tree of the Magnolia grandiflora with white flowers, located in the center of the fly; and a vertical red bar is on the edge of the fly; this being the Magnolia Flag that was the first official flag of the State of Mississippi from 1861 through 1865 and continued in use as a state flag until 1894.

(2) Each of the designs of the official flag shall be of equal status and dignity in representing the State of Mississippi, and each design may be flown individually as the official flag or they may be flown together. The inclusion in this section of the Magnolia Flag as an additional design of the official state flag does not lessen the status of the 1894 flag as also being the official state flag.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.