WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today released the following statement after Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation that will remove the state flag adopted in 1894 and establish a commission to propose a new flag:

“This is a historic and long-awaited day for Mississippi. I appreciate our state legislators for having the courage and conviction to make this necessary change to our state flag. As I have maintained since 2015, Mississippians deserve a banner that unites us rather than divides us. I hope the process outlined in the law will produce a new design for the state flag that can make us all proud.”

Wicker first called for a change to the state flag in 2015.