Tate Reeves on Tuesday signed a bill that takes a historic step to retire the last US state flag to feature the Confederate battle flag. The signing caps a swift referendum on the flag from the Mississippi state Legislature, which passed the bill on Sunday following weeks of racial justice protests across the country. The flag, first adopted in 1894, has red, white and blue stripes with the Confederate battle emblem in one corner. A commission will now develop a new flag design without the Confederate emblem that includes the phrase "In God, We Trust." They fear a chain reaction of events erasing our history -- a history that is no doubt complicated and imperfect," Reeves said Tuesday.

Source: CNN June 30, 2020 19:25 UTC