Wrapped Up In A Flag
"The only thing that I did wrong was stay in Mississippi a day too long"
- Bob Dylan
I live in the Great Sovereign State of Mississippi. This is an admission that not only am I descended from knuckleheads and live surrounded by knuckleheads but that, at the end of the day, I am a knucklehead myself. This does not mean I am a Harley-Davidson, although a lot of knuckleheads ride knuckleheads.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that Mississippi has much bigger fish to fry than what design is used for a piece of cloth, fish like our stubborn refusal to implement Medicaid, our abysmal educational levels, our lack of decent-paying jobs, and ignorant politicians campaigning on such burning issues as the need to keep "In God We Trust" on the automobile license plate, but hey, I enjoy a good fish fry! I also enjoy history.
So here I go down the slippery slope!
The current state flag design, incorporating the "Beauregard" Confederate battle flag in the canton dates from 1894. While it was generally associated with the 1890 Mississippi State Constitution, the 1894 flag design was arguably engineered by Governor John M. Stone, who had made a campaign promise to build a Confederate veterans home but found the Legislature far more amenable to establishing a penitentiary (the legendary and infamous Parchman Farm) to incarcerate black men. Stone realized that memories of the Lost Cause would fade as the aging veterans died off, so he pushed for a symbol of "state pride," hence the incorporation of the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia in the then-new standard.
Before we mosey out of the 1890s (in both directions), a word or two about the 1890 Constitution might be in order. Radical Reconstruction in Mississippi ended in 1875. The 1868 State Constitution, as required by the United States government, granted suffrage to black males. Consequently, a major thrust -- and the most heated debates -- during formulation of the 1890 Constitution involved schemes to disenfranchise African-Americans. Two of the specific methods employed were literacy tests and a poll tax as requirements for voting. These discriminatory practices were overturned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, so basically they remained in place for 70-odd years. Much of what became known as "Jim Crow" in Mississippi had its roots in the 1890 state constitution. So...
Supporters of the current Mississippi State Flag like to pronounce (usually loudly) that it represents "history" and "heritage." Brushing by "heritage" as a white supremacist buzzword, I'll argue that it is neither. In fact, there are reasons to believe that the law establishing the current state flag actually expired in 1906 and that it was not an official emblem until the 2001 state flag referendum (more about that yet to come). It was simply a feel-good rag cooked up by a governor who couldn't get the Legislature to fund a Confederate Veterans Home.
Other than the national flags of the United States, Spain, and France, the earliest banner to fly over Mississippi soil was the lone star of the Republic of West Florida. This short-lived country existed for not quite three months and incorporated the area from Baton Rouge to the present-day Mississippi-Alabama state line. The "Florida parishes" of Louisiana and the southernmost six counties of Mississippi comprised the republic; no parts of the State of Florida were part of the Republic of West Florida. (Spain refused to recognize West Florida as part of its cession to France in 1800 or of the Louisiana Purchase, although the area had been largely settled by Anglo-Americans. Almost as soon as the Anglo revolutionaries had overwhelmed the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge, they were clamoring for admission into the United States.)
When the Mississippi Legislature passed its articles of secession on January 9, 1861, someone hauled out a West Florida lone star, and the flag became forever known as the Bonnie Blue Flag.
The actual "historical" flag of Mississippi was adopted shortly after secession in 1861, presumably so state military units would have a banner. This flag is known as the Magnolia Flag and incorporates the Bonnie Blue Flag in the canton, along with a crude representation of Magnolia grandiflora. This flag is historically correct, and for neo-confederate nose-thumbers and mouth-breathers, this ought to be the preferable flag. But it isn't, because NCNTMBs don't know that much history.
To soothe the bleedin' hearts a bit more, I'll gleefully point out that the Lone Star flag of the Republic of Texas was a recycled West Florida flag, and nobody suggests that the current flag of the second-largest population of Spanish-speaking people in North America is "Confederate." Don't mess with Texas!
So, times change. In the South, things change with geologic rapidity, but they change. By the end of the 20th Century, it was becoming clear to more than a few Mississippians that the state flag had become a liability, an ugly reminder of our knuckleheadedness. So, in the fullness of time, the Mississippi Legislature agreed in 2001 to put a referendum to change the state flag on the ballot. And as Mississippi politicians do when they don't want to put their names on an actual legislative decision, a Jackson ad agency was commissioned to design a proposed alternative state flag. Of course, the result was a piece of contrived butt-ugliness guaranteed to ensure that the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia stayed on the state standard. Meanwhile, the same politicians spent a lot of time telling Sunday School classes, Rotary Clubs, and random gatherings of rednecks that we really ought to respect our "heritage." The referendum failed, of course.
This freed the august statesmen of the Legislature to take on more important and productive matters like declining federal Medicaid funds, figuring out end runs around Roe v. Wade, building facilities for the company that became Enron, and of course putting "In God We Trust" on the automobile license plates.
In God We Trust. All others pay cash.
Pass the cornbread.
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| Harley-Davidson Knucklehead |
Now, I'll be the first to admit that Mississippi has much bigger fish to fry than what design is used for a piece of cloth, fish like our stubborn refusal to implement Medicaid, our abysmal educational levels, our lack of decent-paying jobs, and ignorant politicians campaigning on such burning issues as the need to keep "In God We Trust" on the automobile license plate, but hey, I enjoy a good fish fry! I also enjoy history.
So here I go down the slippery slope!
 |
| Current Mississippi State Flag |
Before we mosey out of the 1890s (in both directions), a word or two about the 1890 Constitution might be in order. Radical Reconstruction in Mississippi ended in 1875. The 1868 State Constitution, as required by the United States government, granted suffrage to black males. Consequently, a major thrust -- and the most heated debates -- during formulation of the 1890 Constitution involved schemes to disenfranchise African-Americans. Two of the specific methods employed were literacy tests and a poll tax as requirements for voting. These discriminatory practices were overturned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, so basically they remained in place for 70-odd years. Much of what became known as "Jim Crow" in Mississippi had its roots in the 1890 state constitution. So...
Supporters of the current Mississippi State Flag like to pronounce (usually loudly) that it represents "history" and "heritage." Brushing by "heritage" as a white supremacist buzzword, I'll argue that it is neither. In fact, there are reasons to believe that the law establishing the current state flag actually expired in 1906 and that it was not an official emblem until the 2001 state flag referendum (more about that yet to come). It was simply a feel-good rag cooked up by a governor who couldn't get the Legislature to fund a Confederate Veterans Home.
 |
| Flag of Republic of West Florida (Bonnie Blue Flag) |
Other than the national flags of the United States, Spain, and France, the earliest banner to fly over Mississippi soil was the lone star of the Republic of West Florida. This short-lived country existed for not quite three months and incorporated the area from Baton Rouge to the present-day Mississippi-Alabama state line. The "Florida parishes" of Louisiana and the southernmost six counties of Mississippi comprised the republic; no parts of the State of Florida were part of the Republic of West Florida. (Spain refused to recognize West Florida as part of its cession to France in 1800 or of the Louisiana Purchase, although the area had been largely settled by Anglo-Americans. Almost as soon as the Anglo revolutionaries had overwhelmed the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge, they were clamoring for admission into the United States.)
When the Mississippi Legislature passed its articles of secession on January 9, 1861, someone hauled out a West Florida lone star, and the flag became forever known as the Bonnie Blue Flag.
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights, hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"
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| Magnolia Flag (1861) |
To soothe the bleedin' hearts a bit more, I'll gleefully point out that the Lone Star flag of the Republic of Texas was a recycled West Florida flag, and nobody suggests that the current flag of the second-largest population of Spanish-speaking people in North America is "Confederate." Don't mess with Texas!
 |
| Butt-Ugly 2001 Proposed Flag |
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| Bigger Fish to Fry |
In God We Trust. All others pay cash.
Pass the cornbread.
