JACKSON, Miss. — The state of Mississippi’s House and Senate voted Sunday to remove the Confederate battle emblem from their state flag, multiple media outlets reported.
The Mississippi state legislature voted on Sunday to replace its state flag, the last in the nation to display the Confederate battle emblem. https://t.co/9AaB6QDQJt
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 28, 2020
Update 6:32 p.m. EDT June 30: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves officially signed Tuesday the bill that will formally remove the existing state flag featuring a Confederate battle emblem.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves: “A flag is a symbol of our present, of our people and of our future. For those reasons, we need a new symbol.” https://t.co/X0juNe66dY pic.twitter.com/ZO3ZKcuwJY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 30, 2020
Reeves comments came two days after the measure made bipartisan history in the Mississippi State House and drew a standing ovation. The state flag had featured the controversial emblem in its upper left-hand corner since 1894.
Original report: Mississippi is the last state in the nation whose flag displays any vestige of the symbol, and the Senate vote triggered raucous applause and cheers, The Associated Press reported.
Minutes after a historic vote, the first state flag comes down. https://t.co/lxpPqvrxzD pic.twitter.com/Q2HLVYMUo7
— WLBT 3 On Your Side (@WLBT) June 28, 2020
According to CBS News, the bill passed by a vote of 91-23 in the House and 37-14 in the Senate.
BREAKING: 36-14, The Mississippi Senate approves changing the Mississippi State Flag. @WJTV pic.twitter.com/nQJ8VFOMWE
— Gerald Harris (@GeraldHarrisTV) June 27, 2020
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Saturday he will sign the bill, but he has not yet indicated how quickly he plans to do so. The current flag loses its official status as soon as Reeves provides his signature.
The legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag. The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) June 27, 2020
If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it. pic.twitter.com/bf3vyzuObt
The Rebel-themed Mississippi state flag, pushed through by a white supremacists-led Legislature in 1894 as backlash to growing political power African Americans gained after the Civil War, lacked official status, the state Supreme Court said in 2000. When state laws were updated in 1906, the portions dealing with the state flag were not carried forward, the court ruled. However, voters approved keeping the flag during a 2001 election.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group