Mississippi State Flag

The situation—

Summer, 2020. COVID-19 raged through America. And people of all colors and backgrounds raged in nationwide protests at centuries of systemic racism. Old symbols of our country's terrible actions became targets for destruction and reimagination.

The challenge—

When we heard the state of Mississippi was bravely retiring their current (racist) flag and commissioning a new design, we responded by quickly uniting a diverse and talented design collective to explore a new flag design that the whole state could rally behind.

The solution—

Our team contributed nearly a dozen fresh ideas that celebrate more meaningful aspects of the state's history and culture. Our agency backed us in this endeavor and tweeted them out for the governor to see. While we were ultimately not part of the official redesign, I'm still proud of these contributions.

A play on a traditional three-bar design, the rolling waves of the Mississippi River acts as the gateway to the West. Our viewpoint is the green of the riverbank on the Mississippi side with a view towards the setting sun as it illuminates the state’s—and our country’s—progress towards inclusion.

This design pays homage to the mound-building Mississippian culture, whose settlements would have dotted the banks of the river along what would become the state’s western border. Not identified with a single tribe, the architectural and agricultural traditions were the result of dozens of unique peoples including the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Yazoo.