MS HB316

Amends Section 3-3-16 of the Mississippi Code to change the official state flag design effective July 1, 2018.

Replaces the 1894 flag design (featuring a canton with blue saltire and 13 stars on a red ground, with three horizontal bars in national colors) with a new design.

New flag features a white central panel flanked by vertical red bars, with a large blue star in the center surrounded by 19 smaller blue stars arranged in a circle on a field 10 units high by 15 units wide.

The 19 small stars represent the first 19 states admitted to the Union, while the center star represents Mississippi as the twentieth state to join the Union.

The circular arrangement of stars represents wholeness, unity and potential; red bars represent passionate differences; white field represents illumination, spirituality, brightness and promise.