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Original Magnolia Flag Adopted
Flag bearing a Magnolia tree and a blue square containing a single star in the upper left corner. The flag was not widely used during the war due to preferences for various other Confederate battle flags., -
Adoption of the "Stainless Banner"
Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard proposed that the Confederate Battle flag be changed to avoid visual confusion with the U.S. flag. -
Magnolia Flag Design Repealed
After the end of the war a Mississippi Constitutional Convention repealed most of the legislation enacted by the State Convention of 1861 including the Magnolia flag design. No official state flag would be introduced until 1896. -
Stars and Bars flag adopted for the first time
Mississippi Governor John M Stone signs in the State flag design featuring the Beauregard Confederate Battle Flag. -
State Flag Relegated to Traditional/Customary Role
Mississippi legislature repealed all general laws that aren’t reenacted by the legislature. The omission of the flag relegated the Stars and Bars flag as purely customary. Mississippi would have no official state flag until 2001. -
Georgia Removes Confederate Design from State Flag
Georgians vote on public referendum to create a new state flag without the presence of any Confederate iconography. Following the change of the Georgia flag, Mississippi remained the only state to bear Confederate symbolism in its state flag. -
Charleston Church Shooting
9 African American churchgoers were murdered by White Supremacist Confederacy supporter, Dylann Roof, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Roof targeted the Church because it is one of the oldest Black churches in America and has strong historical ties to the Civil Rights movement. This shooting motivated all eighth public universities in Mississippi to remove the flag from their schools as well as nationwide calls for the removal of Confederate iconography from state flags. -
Supreme Court declines to hear Federal Lawsuit brought against State Flag
A lawsuit that equated the flag with "state-sanctioned hate speech" was dismissed at both the district court and appeal court levels. -
Police Killing of George Floyd
George Floyd was killed when police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost ten minutes. This incident sparked widespread outrage over the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement and other government institutions. Protests against systemic racism emerged with many activists calling for the removal of racist imagery and symbolism. -
SEC commissioner condemns flag
SEC commissioner, Greg Sankey threatens to ban all SEC championship sporting events in Mississippi unless the flag is changed. -
NCAA Bans Competition in Mississippi
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned all post season competition in the state until the flag was changed -
Gov. Tate Reeves signs removal of flag
Following the removal bill passed in the Mississippi Senate and House on June 27th, Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill citing pain caused by the Confederate symbolism. He also addressed the concerns of those opposing the flag removal, promising to prevent history from being "erased". -
New Magnolia flag design officially adopted
The flag is absent of any Confederate symbolism, however the inclusion of the phrase "In God we trust" was seen as a compromise by some.
