In line with controversy in recent years concerning state flags incorporating elements of the confederate flag, Georgia’s governor recently announced his support of recent legislative action to make the state’s flag bare less of a resemblance to the flag of the Secessionist states of the civil war.

The state flag of Georgia bore striking resemblance to the Confederate flag until it was abruptly changed in 2001 to a “compromise” flag. The current flag is navy blue and still includes an image of the Confederate flag, but it is shrunk down to a much smaller size.

The 1956 flag caused a lot of controversy over the years, and people rallied to remove the Confederate emblem, which has also controversially appeared on South Carolina’s state flag.

People who felt the Confederate symbol represented their states’ heritage argued the smaller flag showed respect for Southern veterans of the American Civil War and were upset by the 2001 change.

The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans argues the flag is a symbol of their ancestors. One brochure published by the Sons of Confederate Veterans reads “All Southerners should be proud of our unique heritage. The Confederate battle flag is recognized around the world as a symbol of independence and self-determination.”

University of Wisconsin assistant professor of sociology Chad Goldberg said symbols like flags could be controversial because of their ambiguity.

“Flags are multivalent symbols, meaning that they can signify different things to different people,” Goldberg said. “In some cases, attributing meanings to the same symbol may allow diverse groups to rally around that symbol despite their political differences.”

Georgia legislators have voted on a compromise that will once again change the design of the state flag of Georgia. The proposed new flag will include three red and white stripes, the left corner colored blue, which will also contain the state seal, and the words “In God We Trust” written in the white stripe.

The proposed new flag will be put to the test in 2004 when a public referendum will allow citizens of Georgia to vote on their state flag.

Georgia’s Gov. Sonny Perdue said he admired the spirit of compromise legislators exhibited in a release last Friday.

“From the beginning, I have felt that the people of Georgia should be heard on this issue. In the past, people have felt excluded from the process,” Perdue said. “This proposal will allow the people of Georgia to express their views on our state flag and moves us a step closer to finding a resolution to this important issue.”

However, in the past, some businesses refused to fly the state flag, and yet another change in the Georgia state flag could lead to more negative reactions.

“For many people, the Confederate flag dishonors the memory of those Americans who gave their lives for the preservation of the Union and what Lincoln called ‘a new birth of freedom,'” Goldberg said. “To many Americans, the Confederate flag signifies the brutal injustice of slavery, the terrorist violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan against African Americans in the Civil War, and the shameful resistance to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.”

Goldberg said the only way to be sure the state’s flag would be a unifying symbol would be to remove the Confederate logo.

“The Confederate flag always has been and remains an extremely divisive symbol that will certainly generate negative reactions,” Goldberg said.