Mississippi State Flag

The Mississippi state flag is the official civic flag of Mississippi. The background uses a dark blue field. A white magnolia flower sits in the center surrounded by a circle of twenty gold stars.

A single gold star appears above the magnolia representing Mississippi as the twentieth state. Gold and red vertical stripes frame both sides of the design. The national motto In God We Trust appears in gold letters below the magnolia. Courthouses, state offices, and schools across Mississippi display this flag alongside wording associated with the Mississippi state motto.

The flag represents Mississippi through natural and historical symbolism. The magnolia honors Mississippi's official state flower and tree. The flower has represented Mississippi since the 1800s and appears throughout state culture and identity; see the official Mississippi state flower.

Twenty stars surrounding the magnolia represent Mississippi as the twentieth state admitted to the Union in 1817. A single larger star above the magnolia emphasizes this distinction. The circle of stars also symbolizes unity and Mississippi's place among the states.

Gold represents the wealth of Mississippi's natural resources and spirit. Red symbolizes the blood shed by Mississippians in service to the state and nation. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The motto In God We Trust reflects values shared across Mississippi communities.

Mississippi authorized its current flag in 2021. The legislature retired the previous flag in June 2020 after decades of controversy over its Confederate battle flag imagery. A commission selected a new design from nearly 3,000 public submissions. Voters approved the new flag by a margin of nearly 73 percent in November 2020.

The winning design came from Rocky Vaughan, Sue Anna Joe, Kara Giles, Dominique Pugh, and Micah Whitson working as a team. Their magnolia-centered design emphasized Mississippi's natural heritage and avoided divisive symbols connected to The Magnolia State nickname. The legislature certified the flag in January 2021. Mississippi officially adopted it on January 11, 2021.

The previous flag dated to 1894 and incorporated the Confederate battle flag in its canton. That design faced increasing opposition in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Mississippi became the last state to remove Confederate imagery from its official flag when it adopted the new design.

The flag uses dark blue, gold, red, and white. Dark blue forms the field and represents vigilance and justice. Gold appears in the stars, stripes, and text. Red shows in the border stripes. White colors the magnolia blossom, reflecting the broader Mississippi state colors.