Chattanooga Times Free Press
December 22, 2003

Georgians Split on '56 Flag
Half of likely voters want banner included in March vote

By Michael Finn, Senior Political Writer

With just weeks remaining before a statewide referendum, Georgia voters are split about which banner they will select as a state flag.  Moreover, half of Georgia's likely voters said they want to vote on restoring the state's 1956 flag, which features the Confederate battle flag across two-thirds of its surface.  But that won't be a choice in March.

In a poll of 400 registered and likely voters, 42 percent said they would vote to keep the 2003 state flag that was approved April 25, while 39 percent would vote to go back to the 2001 flag, and 19 percent were undecided.  Those numbers signify a statistical dead heat, as the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.  The polling was conducted for the Chattanooga Times Free Press from Dec. 4-8 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington D.C.

White voters supported the 2003 flag vs. the 2001 flag by a margin of 48 to 31 percent with 21 percent undecided.  Black voters supported the 2001 flag over the 2003 flag by a margin of 61 to 26 percent with 13 percent undecided.

Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon president said the overall poll results show a divided electorate.  "A bare majority still want to vote on the 1956 flag, " Mr. Coker said.  "It will be hard for either of the new flags to be embraced as long as there is support for the '56 flag."  The poll showed that 50 percent supported having a statewide vote on going back to the 1956 flag, while 38 percent opposed such a vote, 12 percent were undecided.  The 1956 flag is not on the ballot.

In 2001, the General Assembly replaced the 1956 flag at the urging of former Gov. Roy Barnes.  Gov. Barnes lost his 2002 re-election bid because of his leadership in changing Georgia's flag.  Gov. Sonny Perdue was elected after promoting a statewide referendum on the flag.  The 2001 flag is blue with the state seal in the center and five miniature flags in the bottom third.  Its tenure as the state flag was short-lived as the General Assembly this year voted in a different flag.  Lawmakers also authorized a referendum pitting the 2001 flag against the 2003 banner.

The electoral flag fight will be on the ballot of Georgia's March 2, 2004, presidential preference primary.  The 2003 flag is patterned after the "Stars and Bars", the first national flag of the Confederacy.  It has the state arms in the upper left third, with one white and two red horizontal stripes, similar to the pre-1956 flag.

Dr. Ken Ellinger, a Dalton State College political scientist said he was surprised that 50 percent of Georgians want to vote on the 1956 flag.  "It's a little disturbing to it's that high," Dr. Ellinger said of support for a 1956 flag vote.  "I don't want to think that 50 percent of Georgia voters are that insensitive to the feelings of African-Americans and the symbolism of the 1956 flag."  

Black voters opposed having the '56 flag on the ballot by a margin of 67 percent to 17 percent with 16 percent undecided.  White voters supported a vote on the '56 flag by a margin of 62 percent to 28 percent with 10 percent undecided.

Hugh K. "Rusty" Henderson, the Heritage Preservation Association spokesman, of Dublin, GA., said those who support the 1956 flag see it as a symbol of Southern heritage, not racial devisiveness.  He said the level of support for a vote on the 1956 flag is not surprising.  Gov. Perdue was elected because of overwhelming support from those who wanted a vote to bring back the 1956 flag, he said.  "The governor says he never promised that he '56 flag would be on the ballot, but the implication was clear," Mr. Henderson said. "This kind of lawyer double-talk by the governor is disappointing."

Following his election, Gov. Perdue urged that the 1956 flag be a ballot choice. However, the bill he signed into law did not include the 1956 flag in the referendum.  The General Assembly amended out a vote on the 1956 flag on the session's final day.  Unless the state's flag law is amended, voters will not have a vote on returning the 1956 flag.

Dan McLagan, spokesman for Gov. Perdue said the administration has no plans to revisit the flag issue.  "It was not what the governor proposed, but he signed it, " Mr. McLagan said. 

Rep. Mike Snow, D-Chickamauga, vote in 2001 to keep the '56 flag.  He voted this year for the '56 flag to be on the March 2 ballot.  He said the only way a new flag bill would pass in 2004 is for the governor and the legislative leaders to support it.  "I'd vote to bring the old flag back and put it on the ballot if I had that opportunity, but I don't think I'll get that chance," Rep. Snow said.

Charles Owens, a Calhoun, Ga. Retiree who participated in the poll said he does not want a statewide vote on the 1956 flag.  He said he planned to vote for the 2001 flag on March 2.  "There would be opposition either way the vote went on the 1956 flag," Mr. Owens said. "It's in the past and I'd say let it lie".