Retired MS state flag with Confederate emblem still flies at some George Co. buildings
In September, George County supervisors continued to fly the retired Mississippi state flag with the Confederate emblem —despite a July 15 deadline to remove the old flag from public buildings statewide.
Elected officials voted June 28 to retire the old state flag, and Gov. Tate Reeves set the July 15 deadline for removing the flag. The decision to retire the old state flag after 126 years came in the aftermath of Minneapolis police officer causing the death of George Floyd and the mounting pressure from religious, business, sports and civic groups in Mississippi asking for change.
“It is the Board’s understanding the flag deadline was for state buildings,” George County communications director Ken Flanagan said Wednesday on behalf of county supervisors. “The Board agreed to keep the retired state flag in use at the administration building until a new state flag is approved or the current flag began showing signs of wear.”
George County is a political subdivision of the state, and the mandate to remove the flag applies to those public buildings as well.
On Sept. 15, as Hurricane Sally threatened to hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Flanagan said, the state flag was taken down outside the administration building that sits across the street from the county courthouse and houses the supervisors’ offices.
The county planned to keep the retired state flag flying until a replacement was selected, but did not raise it again outside the administration building because it was too “worn” to do so, according to Flanagan.
However, the retired state flag still flies over the District 2 barn, where county trucks and other equipment are stored and used by in that district.
It flew just below the United States flag outside the barn on Highway 613.
There are no plans to remove it.
