Mississippi means "large river" to the Chippewa Indians and the state is named after the Mississippi River. Though the river was called by many different names, the name Mississippi given to it by the Indians was the name that was used a map of the area that was produced in 1695 by Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle.

The official state flag of Mississippi was adopted in 1894, replacing the older Magnolia Flag which had been adopted in 1861, as Mississippi seceded from the union and aligned itself with the Confederacy. A committee was appointed by the state legislature to design a Flag on February 7, 1894. Today's Mississippi state flag maintains a small Confederate Battle Flag in the upper left corner which contains thirteen stars, correspond with the number of the original States of the Union on a St. Andrew's Cross. The field is divided into three bars of blue, white and red.