“The Great River Flag” – designed by Micah Whitson, a University of Mississippi graduate – is one of the contenders gaining steam among popular opinion of the 147 submitted choices remaining in an effort to replace Missississippi’s state flag.

And then there were 147.

The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag considered the nearly 3,000 flag submissions and has narrowed their choices to 147 (View them here: picti.net/X7UB8).

Included among them were multiple versions featuring magnolias and rivers and some with a combination of stripes and stars.

Commission members will rank the top ten choices, and during the next meeting on August 14, the commissioners will select five flags for final consideration. These five flags will be placed on the MDAH website for public comment.

Each of the upcoming meetings will stream live on MDAH Facebook page. 

Update: a statement from the Commission came in on Tuesday, August 11, noting “(t)he mosquito flag advanced to Round Two due to a typo in a list of flag numbers submitted by one commissioner. That commissioner has requested that the flag be removed from the Round Two gallery, and MDAH staff has complied.”

The flag in question depicted a giant mosquito at its center and had become fodder for online commenters in its 24-hour life span as a finalist.