Mississippi’s new state flag
Credit: © Dromara, Shutterstock

During the 2020 election, people across the United States voted for local, state, and national officials. But voters in Mississippi got to vote on a fairly unique proposition as well—the design of a new state flag. In June 2020, the state Legislature passed—and Governor Tate Reeves signed—a bill to remove and replace the state flag. The old flag, adopted in 1894, featured a replica of the Confederate battle emblem used during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Many people consider the emblem to be a symbol of slavery and oppression. The Legislature’s measure called for a commission to adopt a new design that omitted Confederate symbols and included the words “In God We Trust.”  Mississippians voted to accept the new design in a November referendum (vote of approval).

Mississippi’s new flag features a white magnolia blossom on a blue backdrop with red and gold stripes on either side of the flower. The magnolia is the state flower, as well as the state tree. “In God We Trust” is written below the flower. Twenty stars representing Mississippi’s status as the 20th state in the Union surround the flower. One gold star represents Mississippi’s Native American tribes.

The move comes at a time when protests of racial injustice and the legacy of slavery and white supremacy have captured the nation’s attention. This summer, hundreds of thousands of people throughout the United States (and even around the world) took to the streets to demonstrate against racism and the police use of force against African Americans, including the killings of George Floyd and others. Protesters urged city officials—in Mississippi and throughout the United States—to remove statues of such Confederate leaders as Robert E. Lee, the general who commanded the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Protesters also encouraged the removal of a variety of Confederate-related symbols, such as the emblem on the Mississippi flag. Displays of the emblem were also banned at NASCAR races and other events.

This year was not the first time a new Mississippi flag has been proposed. In 2001, Governor Ronnie Musgrove appointed a commission to propose a new design for the state’s flag. That design featured a circle of stars, representing Mississippi’s Native American tribes. Later in the year, two-thirds of Mississippi voters rejected the new design and chose to keep the old flag. Mississippi’s flag remained a source of controversy through the early 2000′s, leading a number of organizations and corporations to decline to hold events in the state or open facilities there. The new design officially becomes law in 2021.

September 19, 2014

Scotland will remain a part of the United Kingdom after yesterday’s referendum (vote) on Scottish independence (known as devolution in Britain).  Turnout for the referendum was very large, with 85 percent of the people of Scotland voting. Experts had expected the final tally to be close, but with 55 percent of the voters casting a ballot against independence and 45 percent voting in favor, it was actually a fairly decisive victory for the “no’s.”

Scotland’s beautiful castles and landscapes will remain a part of the United Kingdom after yesterday’s referendum. (© Marcin Ciesielski/Sylwia Cisek, Shutterstock)

The United Kingdom was formed in 1707 by the Acts of Union of the Scottish parliament in 1706 and the English parliament in 1707. The nations had already shared a monarch for more than 100 years, with the ascension in 1603 of the Scottish King James VI (the English James I) to the throne of England upon the death of his cousin Elizabeth I.

Despite the acts in the 1700′s, Scotland has a long history of trying to maintain autonomy (independence) from its larger neighbor to the south. The Scottish War of Independence fought in the 1200′s by the national hero William Wallace has fired Scottish pride for centuries. (Wallace was the subject of the 1995 film Braveheart.) In the early 1300′s, Scottish king Robert Bruce spent most of his reign trying to keep Scotland free of English rule.

In the late 1800′s and 1900′s, a number of movements attempted to secure either home rule or independence for Scotland. In the 1950′s, a petition requesting Scottish independence—the Scottish Covenant—acquired 2 million signatures but was not acted upon. In the 1970′s, growing Scottish nationalism and the discovery of oil in the North Sea off Scotland’s eastern coast made the idea of Scottish devolution still more popular. In 1979, a Scottish referendum on independence narrowly won by 52 percent to 48 percent, but the vote did not count because turnout for the election had not been high enough. A second winning vote on devolution in 1997 led to the formation of Scotland’s current parliament.

Before the bid for Scottish independence had been defeated, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron had pledged to increase the amount of autonomy enjoyed by the Scottish parliament if Scotland stayed in the Union.

Additional World Book articles:

• Scotland, History of
• United Kingdom (1976—a Back in time article)
• United Kingdom (1978—a Back in time article)
• United Kingdom (1979—a Back in time article)