A state commission has selected the Magnolia Flag to be the next flag of Mississippi. Voters will decide this November whether to approve it or restart the process.
The decision came down to just two flags Wednesday: The Magnolia Flag and the Great River Flag.
The final designs were selected out of about 3,000 proposals submitted to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for consideration.
The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag selected the "Magnolia flag" over the "Great River flag" as the final design for the new state flag. Voters will have the chance to approve the selection in November.
The commission entertained holding a poll of registered voters to decide between the final two flags at Wednesday's meeting, but Katie Blount, the director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, said the Secretary of State told her the flag needed to be decided by Sept. 2 to be printed on absentee ballots.
Earlier this summer, lawmakers voted to remove Mississippi's previous flag, which contained the Confederate battle flag. That flag was adopted in 1894, nearly three decades after the end of the Civil War.
Under the rules adopted by the Legislature, the next flag must not contain the Confederate battle flag and must use the words "In God We Trust."