Replacements on way, City official says

Flags have been a hot-topic issue around the country and in Mississippi over the last the week, but the real question is this: have you noticed the flags waving — or attempting to — at Jackson City Hall?

The American and Jackson flags at the top of City Hall’s flagpole have surely seen better days. The tattered American flag is partially ripped, looking as if it was raised after a long battle.

Below the American flag, the City of Jackson’s flag, or what’s left of it, is shredded so much you wouldn’t be able to tell what kind of flag it is. The city’s flag — which is supposed to show a gold star, a blue center, a white cross and a green field — looks as if someone stuffed it through a paper shredder.

Then take a walk just down Pascagoula Street to Thalia Mara Hall. While the American flag appears to be in good condition, the state of Mississippi flag is ripped in half, showing only the red end. The state flag’s white magnolia on a navy background is nowhere to be found. The Jackson flag located at Thalia Mara is slightly frayed.

On Friday, after the Clarion Ledger asked if the city was aware of the conditions of the flags, Jackson Spokesperson Melissa Payne said replacements should take place this year. She attributed the flags’ current beat-up conditions to the weather and couldn’t recall the last time they were replaced.

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“We are in the process of replacing those flags,” Payne said, adding that Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba personally brought up the issue “at the end of last year.”

According to Annin Flagmakers, which bills itself as “the largest and oldest flag manufacturer in the United States,” a nylon American flag can cost between $23 to $10,270, depending on the size. The smallest American flag available is 3-feet in length and 5-feet in width; the biggest American flag available are 50-feet in length and 80-feet in width. A polyester American flag is a bit more expensive, costing between $42 and $13,160.

The old Mississippi flag, which showed a confederate emblem in the left-hand corner, was replaced in 2020, after years of public debate. Gov. Tate Reeves, who refused to take a position on the flag for years, signed a law that mandates the removal of the old state flag and bans future use of the Confederate emblem.

Flags are flying at half-staff this month in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who at 100 was the nation’s oldest president. The state flag had been flying at half-staff in recent days to honor the two from Mississippi who died in the New Orleans terror attack. Reeves ordered the flags to fly at full height on Monday to honor the second inauguration of President Donald Trump.