Bill: Strip Confederate designation from Arkansas flag star

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An Arkansas lawmaker is proposing that a star on the state’s flag no longer represent the Confederacy, saying it should instead commemorate the contribution of Native Americans to the state.

Democratic Rep. Charles Blake’s legislation filed Friday wouldn’t change the design of Arkansas’ state flag. Instead, it would eliminate language from Arkansas law that says the blue star above the state’s name on the flag commemorates the Confederate States of America.

Under Blake’s proposal, the star would commemorate the Quapaw, Osage and Caddo tribes and the other Native American nations that inhabited Arkansas.

The proposal comes two years after Arkansas’ Republican governor signed a law removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the state holiday that honours civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.