Mississippi retires its rebel-themed flag

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi officials held a ceremony Wednesday to retire the former state flag and send it to a history museum, a day after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed a law removing official status from the last state banner in the U.S. that included the Confederate

battle emblem.

“We have much to be proud of and much to reckon with,” House Speaker Philip Gunn said during the ceremony. “This flag has flown over our best and our worst. Some flew it over their bravery to defend their homeland. And for others, it’s been a shadow over their struggle to be free.”

Mississippi will be without a flag for at least a few months. A commission will design a new one that cannot include the Confederate symbol and must have the words “In God We Trust.” Voters will be asked to approve the design in the Nov. 3 election. If they reject it, the commission will draft a different design using the same guidelines, to be sent to voters later.

ROGELIO V. SOLIS/AP A Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol honor guard carefully folds the retired Mississippi state flag after it was raised over the Capitol grounds one final time in Jackson, Mississippi, Wednesday.