When officials in Mississippi offered the opportunity for people across the country to design its new state flag, thousands seized it. In the weeks since, following input from a variety of sources, including public voting, the list has been narrowed down to two — and an Athens native is behind one of them.

Known as the Great River Flag, it features a blue background with a white star, a white and red shield with waves, and the words “In God We Trust.” Micah Whitson, the designer, said he designed the flag based on the 1798 Territorial Seal, the Mississippi River and the diamond star representing the five regions of Mississippi.

“I wanted to augment (the seal) to change it a little bit, so across the top are the waves of the Mississippi River, because it’s such an important part of the state — economically and culturally,” Whitson said. “Then I wanted to add another element, so I put a star on top of it to represent the ideals of the state and the kind of aspirations for which the people in Mississippi are striving.”

Whitson may be considered an Athens native and a current Boston resident, but he attended the University of Mississippi and has family ties to the state. His grandmother is from northeastern Mississippi, he said.

“It’s a place we go back to frequently and I love, and the opportunity to help … I just couldn’t not take it,” Whitson said.

He said he continues to be surprised that his design has come as far as it has. When Whitson first spoke with The News Courier on Tuesday morning, The Great River Flag was among the top 5. Within a couple of hours, three more designs had been eliminated, leaving him among the final two.

The nine-member commission in charge of presenting a final design will present their decision 10:30 a.m. Sept. 2. In their meeting Tuesday, commissioners discussed the pros and cons of each design, including possible changes to be made.

Mississippi vexillologist Clay Moss also provided input, saying he loved Whitson’s design but advising commissioners to consider removing the thin white lines from the red stripes. He explained the original seal was designed with those hatch marks in part to denote that the line is meant to be red, which is necessary on a coin or item without color.

On a large flag, the red would be visible and the thin lines of red and white together could cause them to appear pink while the flag is flying in the wind. On smaller versions, the hatch marks might be difficult to print at all.

Other designs being discussed included a flag with a white outline of the western border of Mississippi, which Moss called the “poster child of contemporary designs” but difficult to reproduce; a blue flag with a magnolia tree and circle of stars; and two flags with a magnolia in the middle and bars on either side.

The latter two were so similar, commissioners viewed them side by side and discussed how best to combine them. One had a white background with gold bars on either side, a blue bar on the far left and a red bar on the far right; the other was a blue background with gold bars on either side and red bars on the far sides.

Ultimately, they voted to keep the flag with the blue background, making it the Great River Flag’s only remaining competition. Whichever one is chosen could become the third official state flag in Mississippi’s history, pending approval from voters in November.

Mississippi retired its previous flag in June. Since 2003, it had been the only U.S. state flag to feature the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, known to many as the Confederate flag. Amid protests against racial injustice, a bill was passed and signed into law in late June that called for the removal of the state flag from public buildings and the establishment of a commission for designing a replacement.

Visit mdah.ms.gov for more information on the commission’s selection process and greatriverflag.com for more information about Whitson’s design.