The 126-year-old banner was the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem. The Mississippi Constitution currently requires a statewide candidate to win a majority of the popular vote and a majority of electoral vote. One electoral vote is awarded to the candidate receiving the most support in each of the 122 state House districts. If no candidate wins both the popular vote and the electoral vote, the race is decided by the state House. U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III wrote last November that he has grave concern about the constitutionality the electoral vote provision.

"I love this flag," states David Flynt of Hattiesburg, while standing outside the state Capitol with other current Mississippi flag supporters in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, June 28, 2020. Lawmakers in both chambers are expected to debate state flag change legislation today. An increasing number of cities and all Mississippis public universities have taken down the state flag in recent years. Many people who wanted to keep the emblem on the Mississippi flag said they see it as a symbol of heritage. William Winter, who is now 97, served on then-President Bill Clintons national advisory board on race in the 1990s and was chairman of the Mississippi flag commission in 2000.

There is a growing movement to replace the current state flag that has in the canton portion of the flag the design of the Civil War-era Confederate battle flag. The Confederate-themed Mississippi flag drew opposition Tuesday from two big forces in the culturally conservative state: Southern Baptists and Walmart. Walmart said it will stop displaying the Mississippi flag while the state debates whether to change the design. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, appointed a 17-member commission to study flag design in 2000 and to make recommendations to the Legislature. All of Mississippi's public universities stopped flying the state flag years ago because of the Confederate symbol.