Mississippi's historic state flag waving

Mississippi 2027

Jimmy GilesIndependent for Governor

The People Have the Final Say.

Not politicians. Not political parties. Not lobbyists. The people.

A Mississippi beekeeper. A common man. An independent voice for We the People.

Help Put Jimmy on the Ballot

Jimmy Giles’s Position on Voting

Boycott all elections unless a candidate supports Mississippi’s historic 1894 state flag.

Jimmy Giles advocates a complete election boycott when no candidate affirmatively supports restoring Mississippi’s historic state flag. His position is not limited to withholding a vote in one contest; it calls for abstention from the entire election under that condition.

Under Giles’s standard, a candidate’s silence does not satisfy the requirement of affirmative support. He applies the same standard to every candidate, regardless of political party or office.

Recovered State Flag Commission Recordings

Jimmy Giles before the Governor’s Advisory Commission on the Mississippi State Flag.

Three original presentations from the Commission’s 2000 public hearings—preserved in Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s archive and now assembled in one chronological record.

Meridian • October 26, 2000

The Meridian presentation

Jimmy Giles’s complete 3-minute, 36-second presentation at the Meridian public hearing—not the complete hearing.

Open the Meridian MP4 directly.

Complete hearing archive: Mississippi Public Broadcasting identified three tapes from the October 26, 2000 Meridian hearing. All three full-length recordings are now available online.

Watch the Complete Meridian Recording — Tape 1 Watch the Complete Meridian Recording — Tape 2 Watch the Complete Meridian Recording — Tape 3

Moorhead • November 2, 2000

A challenge to every Mississippian

Jimmy Giles confronted the central issues surrounding Mississippi’s flag: history, heritage, political power, economic claims and the people’s right to decide. He also directly challenged Commission chairman and former Governor William Winter.

I believe no more powerful defense of Mississippi’s historic 1894 state flag exists. I challenge every Mississippian: watch all 3 minutes and 18 seconds, consider every argument, and then identify a stronger defense.

Open the Moorhead MP4 directly.

Watch and Read the Complete Record

Gulf Coast • November 9, 2000

The Gulf Coast presentation

Jimmy Giles’s complete presentation at the Gulf Coast public hearing—not the complete hearing.

Open the Gulf Coast MP4 directly.

Complete hearing archive: Mississippi Public Broadcasting identified two tapes from the November 9, 2000 Gulf Coast hearing. Both full-length recordings are now available online.

Watch the Complete Gulf Coast Recording — Tape 1 Watch the Complete Gulf Coast Recording — Tape 2

Put the People Back in Charge

Help build Mississippi’s petition network.

We need 1,000 certified signatures to qualify for the ballot. Our goal is 1,500—and a permanent statewide system that can help independent Mississippians qualify in future elections.

Can you collect signatures in your county? Become part of a coordinated network of petition captains and help give Mississippi voters an independent choice.

Join the Petition Network

The Controlling Principle

Mississippi Constitution, Section 5

“All political power is vested in, and derived from, the people; all government of right originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.”

Those words must mean something. Mississippi voters chose to retain our historic state flag in 2001. In 2020, politicians overturned that decision, excluded the historic flag from the ballot and forced voters to choose between their selected replacement and another replacement to be selected later. That was not government founded upon the will of the people. That was a violation of Section 5.

This campaign is bigger than one flag. It is about restoring the controlling principle of Mississippi government: The people are sovereign. They possess the highest political authority. The people—not politicians, political parties, lobbyists or political machines—have the final say.

Mississippi does not have a legitimate state flag—or a legitimate government. Mississippi has a “Scumbags’ Rag,” imposed by a Scumbags’ government that overturned the people’s 2001 statewide vote and then barred the historic flag from the 2020 ballot. A government that erases the people’s decision and calls it democracy does not represent Mississippi. It rules over Mississippi.

Jimmy Giles’s Political Judgment

The 129 Scumbags Who Betrayed the People’s Vote

That is my judgment of the 92 representatives and 37 senators who voted for House Bill 1796. Mississippi voters chose to retain the historic 1894 state flag in 2001. In 2020, these legislators removed it without allowing voters to choose between the historic flag and a replacement. Examine the history, the official legislative votes and the name of every legislator recorded for and against the bill.

Read the Historical Record See the Complete Roll Call
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves pictured in front of the current Mississippi state flag
Governor Tate Reeves. Office of Governor Tate Reeves image.

The 130th Name: Tate Reeves

He signed the betrayal into law.

Do not judge Tate Reeves by this photograph. Judge him by his record. Mississippi voters chose to retain the historic 1894 state flag in the 2001 statewide referendum. On June 30, 2020, Governor Reeves signed House Bill 1796—the measure that removed the people’s chosen flag and established a replacement process that barred it from the 2020 ballot.

Jimmy Giles’s judgment is blunt: a governor who helps overturn the people’s statewide decision and denies them a direct choice has not acted as a man of honor. Tate Reeves is a Scumbag, and the government that joined him is a Scumbag government—because its record shows contempt for the authority of the people it claims to represent.

Look at the record. Do you see honor in respecting the people’s decision—or dishonor in overruling it?

See All 130 Names and the Official Record
Mississippi's historic 1894 state flag

One Million Flags

Fly the flag the people chose.

The People's Flag is historic. The Tyrants' Flag is phony. Join a peaceful campaign to display the People's Flag in one million more physical and digital places across Mississippi and across the Internet than the Tyrants' Flag.

Join One Million Flags

A Lifetime of Defense

Jimmy Giles and Mississippi's historic state flag.

Jimmy Giles believes no living Mississippian has done more to defend the historic 1894 state flag. Read his first-person record of national debate, litigation, public demonstrations and continuing advocacy—including an encounter with Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin beside Interstate 55.

Read Jimmy's Flag Record Watch the Complete Speech

Positions and Nonresponses

Where candidates stand on Mississippi's historic state flag.

This record distinguishes stated positions from unanswered questions. Philip Gunn, Andy Gipson and Lynn Fitch publicly supported replacing the historic state flag chosen by Mississippi voters in 2001. Ty Pinkins was asked publicly and twice by email to state his position but did not respond.

Philip Gunn

“As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed.”

Gunn issued that statement on June 22, 2015. He later led the House operation that removed the flag without placing it against a replacement on the ballot. Read the documented record.

Andy Gipson

“I support a change; but it is a decision Mississippians should make.”

Gipson supported replacing the flag and favored an “In God We Trust” alternative. Although he invoked a statewide vote, he did not expressly demand that voters be allowed to retain the historic flag. Read his June 24, 2020 statement.

Lynn Fitch

“It is my personal belief that it is time for us to change our State flag.”

Fitch called for a new flag and recommended adding “In God We Trust.” Read her June 24, 2020 statement.

Ty Pinkins

Asked publicly and twice by email. No position stated.

Pinkins, an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2026, was asked on his Facebook page and twice by email whether he supports Mississippi's historic 1894 state flag and whether he supports allowing voters to choose between the historic and current flags in a fair statewide referendum. The public question remains visible. The first email was sent September 13, 2026. The second advised that a nonresponse would be reported after September 30. As of October 1, no response has been received.

His silence does not reveal whether his answer is yes or no, but it does reveal an unwillingness to state a position after repeated direct requests. In Jimmy Giles's judgment, a candidate who will not answer a question about the people's right to govern themselves cannot credibly present himself as a courageous, honest and independent voice for the majority.

The historic flag was not on the 2020 ballot. The Legislature had already retired it. Voters could approve or reject one proposed replacement; a rejection would have produced another new design—not restored the flag voters chose in 2001. See exactly how Philip Gunn helped construct and carry out that process.

A Request for Straight Answers

An open questionnaire to every candidate for governor.

Twenty-five direct questions about the sovereignty of the people, Mississippi's state flag, citizen initiative, ballot access, trial by jury, lobbying, transparency and accountability. Every candidate—regardless of party—is invited to respond. Jimmy Giles has answered every question and placed his positions on the public record.

Read the Questionnaire Read Jimmy's Answers

An Unanswered Question

Did Clare Hester play a role in the campaign to remove Mississippi's historic state flag?

Jimmy Giles believes Hester's possible involvement deserves investigation. The shared Clinton background, Hester's lobbying influence and the organized character of the 2020 campaign raise questions—but presently available evidence does not establish that she participated.

Read the Inquiry

The Campaign

Put political power back where it belongs.

Jimmy Giles is running to restore the voice of ordinary Mississippians and to insist that government respect the rights guaranteed by the Mississippi Constitution.

01

Let the People Decide

Restore a workable statewide initiative and referendum process so Mississippians can propose and vote on constitutional amendments.

02

Protect Trial by Jury

Defend the Mississippi Constitution's promise that the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.

03

Respect the People's Vote

Defend Mississippi's historic state flag and the right of the people—not politicians—to make the final decision.

A Constitutional Right

Why trial by jury matters.

A municipal judge convicted Jimmy Giles. He appealed, represented himself before a Rankin County jury, and was acquitted of both charges.

Watch the Video

Public Speech and Public Power

Jimmy Giles, Kenneth Stokes and the Jackson City Council.

Watch the surviving video of Jimmy Giles addressing the Jackson City Council on March 6, 2001, and read the documented record: Stokes filed criminal charges after the meeting, the justice court dismissed them, and Giles's later civil case ended without a merits ruling on his proposed First Amendment claim.

Watch and Read the Record

From the Archives

Jimmy Giles on MSNBC.

Before Mississippi's statewide flag referendum, Jimmy Giles appeared in a nationally televised debate from Washington to defend Southern heritage and the Confederate battle flag.

Watch the Complete Debate

A Direct Statement

My position on the news media.

Jimmy Giles records the experiences that informed his decision not to solicit news-media endorsement, approval or coverage.

Read the Statement

The Documentary Record

Organizational outreach and response.

A dated record of what happened when the campaign sought access or assistance from organizations presenting themselves as advocates for the people of Mississippi—including the September 29 decision to withdraw two pending posts and leave Delta Flaggers — PR and Discussion because of inadequate support.

Examine the Record

From the Counterattack Archives

Show Your Colors Proudly

An essay by Frank R. Abernathy, originally published by Southern Initiative in its monthly newsletter, Counterattack.

Read the Historical Essay

First Amendment Archive

The Ole Miss stick-flag challenge.

Watch the stadium footage, read the University article recounting Jimmy Giles’s public challenge to Justice Antonin Scalia, and review the litigation history.

View the Article and Video

Free Speech History

The SCV lawsuit over my use of the Confederate Battle Flag.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans sued Jimmy Giles over an emblem containing the Confederate Battle Flag. A jury awarded one dollar in damages, but the court imposed $21,666.61 in attorney’s fees against him.

Read the Complete History

A Citizen in Court

“You are one lawsuit-filing dude.”

A documented chronology of Jimmy Giles’s federal court battles—including free speech, ballot access, candidate forums, voting law, false arrest, two Fifth Circuit appeals and two petitions to the United States Supreme Court.

Read the Court Record
Confederate battle flag

Historical Quiz

Historical Quiz

Facts you should have learned in school but didn't.

Which of the following flags flew over slave ships bringing Africans to America in chains?

  1. Confederate flag
  2. United States flag
  3. Czechoslovakia flag

Which of the following colonies was first to legally recognize slavery?

  1. South Carolina
  2. Massachusetts
  3. Virginia

In which of the following colonies was slavery legally recognized at the time the United States government was formed?

  1. Connecticut
  2. Delaware
  3. Georgia
  4. Maryland
  5. Massachusetts
  6. New Hampshire
  7. New Jersey
  8. New York
  9. North Carolina
  10. Pennsylvania
  11. Rhode Island
  12. South Carolina
  13. Virginia

Which of the following generals was the first to free his slaves?

  1. Robert E. Lee
  2. Ulysses S. Grant
  3. Zachary Taylor

Which of the following presidents included either a Catholic or a Jew in his cabinet?

  1. Jefferson Davis
  2. Abraham Lincoln
  3. James Monroe

Answer: Jefferson Davis' cabinet which included both a Catholic and a Jew.

Who said "There is a physical difference between the races which I believe will for ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."?

  1. Jefferson Davis
  2. Abraham Lincoln
  3. George Wallace

Who said "Any people anywhere being inclined and having the power have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better."?

  1. Robert E. Lee
  2. Abraham Lincoln
  3. Jefferson Davis

Lastly, please fill in the blank with the appropriate percentage:

_____ of all white families in the South owned no slaves at all.

  1. 25%
  2. 50%
  3. 75%

Answers are in bold.

A Peaceful, Lawful Movement

Join the Mississippi Voter Revolution.

Help restore government to We the People through ballots, independent candidates and direct citizen action. Join the statewide Facebook group, state your county and help give Mississippi voters another choice.

Join the Facebook Group

Ballot Access

Help establish a petition-gathering system.

Mississippi requires 1,000 certified signatures to place an independent candidate for governor on the ballot. Our goal is 1,500—but the larger objective is a coordinated, repeatable system that can serve this campaign and future independent candidates.

Fifty petition captains collecting 30 valid signatures each will reach the goal.

Read the Plan

Stay Connected

Follow the campaign.

Campaign news, ballot-access updates, and announcements from Jimmy Giles.