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.

On Monday, a U.S. flag fluttered outside the state Supreme Court building and a pole for the state flag stood vacant. Inside the building, dozens of spectators cheered and some wept with happiness after legislators voted to change the flag. In a 2001 statewide election, Mississippi voters chose to keep the flag, with supporters saying they see it as a symbol of heritage. Several Black legislators, and a few white ones, have pushed for decades to change the flag. Monday in Washington, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked about Mississippi taking steps to remove the Confederate emblem from the state flag.

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.