Mississippi votes to keep Confederate symbol on flag

The banner that led Confederate troops in the Civil War will remain on Mississippi's flag.

Voters have rejected warnings that the symbol is racist and an obstacle to economic development.

Mississippi residents voted by nearly a 2-1 margin to keep their current state flag.

The proposed alternative would have replaced the Confederate emblem in the upper left corner with a cluster of 20 stars.

Mississippi is the last state to prominently display the emblem on its flag.

With all precincts reporting, 488,630 voters, or 65%, favoured keeping the 1894 flag.

"I don't think black people were upset with the flag," said Robert Crook, a former state senator. "There was no hue and cry, no boycotts."

Opponents continued their criticism of the Confederate symbol, which they denounced as racist.

"The flag - outside of a symbol of racism - is an advertisement," said Tony Gaylor, a lawyer who was one of about a dozen people at Hal and Mal's Restaurant in Jackson for a post-election party.

"As long as the state continues to advertise itself as racist, it will be seen as racist."