ARTISTS WANT MISSISSIPPI FLAG WITH WIDE APPEAL, NOT DIVISION

It's been two months since legislators in the state of Mississippi, US, acted under pressure to retire the last state flag that included the Confederate battle emblem widely seen as racist. On Wednesday, a commission was expected to recommend a new state flag design - one that will be put before state voters to approve or reject in November. Creators of the final two designs say their work reflects a love for Mississippi and a desire for a banner that a wide range of people can fly with pride. By law, the new flag cannot include the Confederate battle flag, and it must have the phrase, "In God We Trust." The public submitted nearly 3,000 designs.

One of the final designs has a red-and-white shield on a dark blue background, with wavy lines representing water. The other has a magnolia on a dark blue background, with red bars on either end. The state flower is encircled by stars representing Mississippi as the 20th state. Each finalist has a single star made of diamond shapes representing the Native American people who lived on the land before others arrived.The magnolia flag is a combination of elements submitted by five people. Four live in Mississippi, and one is a Mississippi native living in San Francisco.

The flag with the shield, nicknamed the "Great River Flag," is by graphic designer Micah Whitson, who grew up in Alabama, graduated from the University of Mississippi and now lives in Boston. Whitson, 39, said Tuesday that when Mississippi sought designs for a new flag, "I was like, 'Come on, this was the moment I was made for.'" He said the shield is inspired by the Mississippi Territory seal, issued in 1798. Whitson found a simple typeface that was available in 1816, a year before Mississippi became a state.

Graphic designer Rocky Vaughan of Ackerman, Mississippi, created the overall design of the magnolia flag, which was altered with work from others. He said on Tuesday that he started working on designs years ago, when Mississippi residents were bickering about the flag with the Confederate image.