Mississippi Governor Signs Law Removing Confederate Design From State Flag

After more than 120 years of flying over the state of Mississippi, the Confederate battle flag is no longer a part of the state's official flag.

On Tuesday, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law a bill fast-tracked by the Mississippi legislature over the weekend that calls for a new design.

In a somber ceremony Reeves said he was signing the law to turn a page in Mississippi.

"A flag is a symbol of our present, of our people, and of our future," Reeves said. "For those reasons, we need a new symbol."

First adopted in 1894 by white supremacists reclaiming power after Reconstruction, the old flag incorporated the Confederate battle emblem – a red background with a blue X lined with 13 white stars.

Since the civil rights movement, activists have been calling for its removal, arguing it's an outdated banner in a state that has a 38% African American population.

But state elected officials had not been willing to go against the nearly 65% of voters who approved keeping the flag in a 2001 referendum.

It finally fell this week amid the outcry for racial justice happening across the U.S. much like Confederate monuments that have come down elsewhere around the South.