Looks like the “flag issue” has mercifully for Georgia come to an end. By an over 375,000 vote margin, almost seventy-five percent of Georgians agreed that Georgia’s current flag should stay as Georgia’s permanent flag. Although the vote was legally just an advisory referendum to the Georgia Legislature, the three-to-one margin virtually guarantees that no politically sane Member of the General Assembly will raise the issue again.

The ‘Barnes’ flag really did go down in an overwhelming defeat. Although public input was never sought when Georgia’s former Governor rammed the flag change through the General Assembly, voter sentiment was unequivocal in rejecting the flag dubbed in USA Today as the ugliest state flag in the country. And the rejection was uniform. Voters in all 159 counties voted against the Barnes flag.

The vote did send several very clear messages in advance of the November 2004 elections. First, media polling is highly suspect. In the weeks leading up to the election there were reports that the vote was extremely close, and some newspapers event reported that the ‘Barnes’ flag was favored in the referendum election. Not surprisingly, Barnes’ political operatives fanned the speculation regarding the political fallout for Governor Sonny Perdue as a result of a possible return to the Barnes’ flag.

Indeed, rampant speculation followed with editorials of Perdue’s demise and of Barnes’ resurgence with suggestions that the new flag might be defeated by Barnes’ loyal following alone. Of course, in the aftermath of a lopsided election defeat, little has been written regarding the implications of the vote for either Perdue or Barnes. Instead, media pundits have moved with lightning speed to put as much distance between Governor Perdue and the almost fifty percent margin of victory for the new flag. So much for accuracy and objectivity.

Second, Georgia voters are not stupid. The underlying thought behind both the Legislature’s and Governor Barnes’ insistence that a vote not be permitted was that Georgia voters simply could not be trusted to vote on the flag. In the end, as part of the compromise with House Democrats in the General Assembly, Georgia voters were still not permitted to consider the 1956 flag with the Confederate battle emblem, although it did appear as a miniature flag on the Barnes flag which was on the March 2, 2004 ballot.

Even limited to two options, many under the Gold Dome were fearful of permitting voters to express their opinion. Yet Georgia voters left little doubt that they understand the issues, and are interested in looking forward toward a new Georgia, and not backward toward an old controversy. With the nation watching as part of the Super Tuesday Presidential Preference Primary process, Georgians stood up and were counted in favor of a flag that they could be proud of.

Georgia is better off for having let the people speak. Rather than defending a flag that they neither chose nor wanted, Georgians can now stand behind a flag that they supported and voted for. A lot can be said for any measure that passes with almost seventy-five percent of the votes; now, Georgia has a flag with that level of support.