Original Flag Debate

Much of the 1894 flag’s controversy was rooted in debates over the context within which the inclusion of the Confederate flag was made. A generation removed from the Civil War, the number of Confederate soldiers applying for state pensions increased in the 1890s, as did calls for a state-funded facility to provide greater assistance to the state’s aging veterans. In his State of the State address on January 7, 1894, Governor Stone outlined his agenda for the upcoming legislative session. Among his priorities were tax codes and the future of industry in the state, both critical to funding the increasing number of pension applications from ageing Confederate veterans. In response, Stone pledged in his January address to “cheerfully sanction any proper legislation for the benefit of the Confederate soldiers and sailors, and their widows.” He made this pledge in the midst of an unprecedented number of lynching’s in the state, primarily aimed at African American men.

The Confederate Battle Flag

The Confederate Battle Flag and its inclusion within the design of Mississippi’s state flag was an effort to unify White political, economic, and social divisions in the state, at a time when political schisms threatened to destroy the Democratic coalition that prevailed in Mississippi during 1875 and effectively ended Reconstruction in the state. As Confederate veterans aged and a second generation of White Mississippians matured, the memory of the Civil War and the Confederate cause merged to form a universal celebration of White sacrifice that ultimately erased the basis for Mississippi’s secession: the defense and continued protection of slavery. Doing so not only reassured Confederate veterans who feared that their service and cause would be forgotten, but it also shored-up the persistence of White supremacy as the state proceeded to eliminate voting rights, deny access to educational equality, and strip basic safety from Black communities.

A Distinctly ‘Southern’ Version of History

In May 1894, Stephen D. Lee, a former Confederate lieutenant general and the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi (Mississippi A&M), made a statement signifying the contribution Confederate imagery and memorialization would make for subsequent generations. Lamenting that all history textbooks in Mississippi schools were written by northern writers, Lee described them as “naturally biased, especially in regard to the war and the causes which led to it.” His recommendation to employ a distinctly “southern” version of history that eliminated the defense of slavery as a cause for the Civil War complemented the deification of Confederate symbolism within the state flag. (Note: Stephen D. Lee also served as chairman of the Vicksburg National Military Park Commission which oversaw the creation of the Vicksburg National Military Park. Established in 1899, the Vicksburg National Military Park currently contains more monuments than any other national military park in the United States.) In total, the unification of White memory around this version of Civil War history enabled continued marginalization of Black Mississippians who would wait another century before they would realize the freedoms of basic citizenship. They would do so under the same 1894 flag approved, in part, to reassure the persistence of White supremacy.

Officially Retired – A True Political Moment

Mississippi has officially retired the last state flag in the US with the Confederate battle emblem, claiming that it was a racist symbol that has served as a source of division for generations. The Republican governor, Tate Reeves, signed a historic bill withdrawing the state’s 126-year-old flag on Tuesday, June 30th 2020.

“This is not a political moment to me but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together, to be reconciled, and to move on,” Reeves said in a statement. “We are a resilient people defined by our hospitality. We are a people of great faith. Now, more than ever, we must lean on that faith, put our divisions behind us, and unite for a greater good.”