In 2020, Mississippi retired its century-old state flag and opened a public competition for a replacement. More than 3,000 designs were submitted.
I treated the brief as an opportunity to ask a different question: What might a Mississippi flag have looked like if it had been designed in 1817?
The result was the Great River Flag, based on the seal of the Mississippi Territory from 1789. Rather than introduce another contemporary symbol, the design looked backward—to the state’s earliest visual language—to create something that could move forward.
The Great River Flag
The flag was designed around a simple premise: a state’s identity can draw from its history without being defined by it.
The central shield and star came from the territorial seal. The surrounding system was developed to give the flag enough structure to work beyond a single piece of fabric—from athletics and merchandise to civic communications and regional identities.
The submission was created independently and without compensation. What began as a design exercise quickly became a statewide conversation.
Building a State Identity
The flag was only the beginning.
I developed an accompanying visual identity to demonstrate what a new Mississippi flag could make possible: applications across sports, culture, commerce, tourism, and regional communities.
The work was intentionally expansive. A once-in-a-century opportunity to reconsider a state’s identity deserved more than a flag on a pole.
The campaign gained attention across Mississippi, including coverage on sports radio and local news. The Great River Flag was selected as one of five finalists and ultimately advanced to the final two.
Note: This project was developed independently and without compensation to demonstrate the possibilities of the proposed identity. Some images shown are used solely as visual references or art-direction studies and are not original works. All third-party imagery remains the property of its respective rights holders. If you are the rights holder of an image shown here and would like it removed, please get in touch.
Regional Flags
The visual language was designed to be extensible.
Using elements from the Great River Flag, I developed a series of regional flags—an exploration of how a single state identity could accommodate the distinct character of its communities.
The Final Two
The Great River Flag made it through the commission's final round, ultimately finishing as the runner-up.
The star from the design was incorporated into the final state flag, and I was subsequently credited as a co-designer.
The Final Two
The Great River Flag made it through the commission's final round, ultimately finishing as the runner-up.
The star from the design was incorporated into the final state flag, and I was subsequently credited as a co-designer.
A Personal Project
This project was never commissioned. It was a civic design exercise undertaken independently, largely as a way to explore what thoughtful design could contribute to a consequential public moment.
It also brought my work back to where it began.
Twenty years earlier, I had been designing posters for concerts in Mississippi. Now I was designing a flag for the entire state.
The experience became a study in place, identity, history, and the peculiar responsibility of designing something that belongs to everyone.
I first started designing twenty years ago, trying to give away free posters to Proud Larry’s in Oxford, Miss. I remembered this when I was sitting at the Larry’s bar back in January, mourning the loss of a close friend and mentor who helped encourage my craft.
When I saw the call for flag entries, then, I knew I had to jump in.
Had I ever designed a flag? Did I know how much work I’d put in? How many nights I’d lose sleep thinking about the ideas? Did I know how ugly the internet could get? No. But even if I did, I would do it again. In a heartbeat.
It is a rare occurrence for a designer where life experience (knowing Mississippi as an insider and an outsider) aligns with a life’s trade (a design portfolio based on typography and a decade-long art project based on connection to place), which aligns with the ability to perform a civic duty. For free. With little time. And 2,976,000 clients.
I’m proud of the Great River flag submission. I’m thankful for folks who helped bring the vision to life. For the council of the wise, for the hands of the busy, for the hearts of friends and strangers. I’m proud of the way we ran this thing. We kept it on the sunny side. We showed the potential and kept it hospitable. As is only fitting.
In a moment that feels like it has come full circle, I went from designing free Mississippi concert posters that nobody saw to designing free Mississippi flag designs that a lot of folks have.
I read someplace there were over 2,200 submissions that featured a magnolia. I’m not surprised to see a magnolia going on the ballot. I hope the voters of Mississippi vote it in with an overwhelming majority and then move on to focus on more pressing issues.
I have the distinction of being one of the few living state flag runner-ups. And maybe I’ll get a swing at the Massachusetts flag one day.
So. What will I tell my children about this experience? What advice can I pass along about this strange, trying, exciting, evolving season of life?
In a world of magnolias, don’t be afraid to offer a shield.
To Mississippi, with love,
Micah Whitson
Epilogue
The project also changed how I think about flags.
Having since learned more about vexillology and the principles of effective flag design, I would approach the submission differently today.
Design is rarely finished. You learn. You revise. You make the next thing better.
