A viral draft that was proposed when the new state flag for Mississippi emerged as a joke and was only included in a list of finalists due to a typo, according to officials.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is currently restricting options to replace its current flag after lawmakers voted to remove the Confederate flag from its current version. The MDAH recently announced its finalists after accepting more than 1,000 submissions for possible flag rearrangement.
In a situation at the age of the internet reminiscent of the naming of the Boaty McBoatFace, one of the finalists who quickly attracted viral attention and support was a joke flag with a giant mosquito in it center.
Mississippi resident Thomas Rosete told the Clarion Ledger that he designed and submitted the mosquito flag as a joke to a colleague who did not want the flag changed. Rosete works as a deckhand on the Yazoo River, saying he is familiar with the state’s large mouse population and thought they were appropriate to represent the state.
“I believe people from all backgrounds can get this behind and make it proud,” Rosete told the Clarion Ledger. ‘I said something like that in the [submission] e-mail. And now I actually believe that. ”
The Associated Press reported that many online people ran around the flag saying that what started as mocking support was no longer “ironic”, and they really liked the flag.
“Personally, I love the Mosquito Flag. … its cheeks are on the market, ”tweeted one Mississippi resident.
“I slowly realize that my love for the mosquito flag may not even be ironic,” said another. ‘It’s so bad it’s good. I would proudly fly the mosquito. ”
But dreams were dashed on Tuesday when the MDAH declared that the flag was not meant to be a finalist.
“The mosquito flag advanced to Round Two due to a typo in a list of flag numbers submitted by one commissioner,” the agency said in a statement. “That commissioner has requested that the flag be removed from the Round Two gallery, and MDAH staff has complied.”
The statement was disappointingly fulfilled. One Mississippi journalist tweeted, “Fly high, mosquito flag,” while another resident wrote on Twitter that “the mosquito flag is destined to be in that round!”
The commission plans to have its vote on the final flag on September 2 after being limited to the top five flags on Friday.
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