On Saturday, Mississippi’s state legislature passed a resolution that will begin to replace the Confederate emblem on the state’s flag.
The resolution suspends the rules so that lawmakers can consider a bill that would change or remove the flag. The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the resolution 85-34. The Senate passed the resolution 36-14.
The resolution calls for the removal of the flag and for the flag to be redesigned without any Confederate symbols. The words “In God We Trust” wil be added instead. The redesign will be voted on by the public in November.
The passage of the resolution now allows for a bill to be proposed and passed to change the flag. The House and Senate resume on Sunday afternoon and the bill is expected to be taken up then. Sources say that the bill is expected to pass.
The Mississippi state flag is 126 years old, as its design dates back to 1894. Mississippi is the last state in the U.S. whose flag features the Confederate emblem. Republican Governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, says he’ll sign the bill into law.
“The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it,” Reeves wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. “If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it.”