Confederate symbol to be less noticeable

ATLANTA - The Georgia House yesterday approved a compromise to the state flag that would shrink the Confederate battle emblem to one of five small symbols at the bottom of the banner.

After being quickly passed by the House Rules Committee - a key Georgia legislative panel - earlier in the day, the proposal headed for a vote in the Democrat-dominated House, which gave its approval in a tight 94-82 vote. The House also added the motto "In God We Trust."

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to be voted on this week.

The proposal had the support of Democratic leaders, including black lawmakers and of Gov. Roy Barnes, who urged legislators to support the bill and avoid a divisive fight.

"It's time to end it before it divides us into warring camps and erodes four decades of economic progress," he said.

Civil rights leaders had threatened boycotts if the Confederate battle emblem wasn't removed from the state's flag. Many are the same activists who successfully fought last year to remove the Confederate flag from atop South Carolina's statehouse.

Passage would require a simple majority in both the House, which has 105 Democrats and 75 Republicans, and the Senate, where the split is 32 Democrats to 24 Republicans.

The new flag would have the state seal on a blue background. Beneath the words "Georgia's history" at the bottom would be five small replicas of flags that have flown over Georgia - including the current banner that contains the Confederate battle emblem - and the motto.

It was a fair compromise, said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, the black lawmaker who has led the fight to remove the Confederate emblem from the flag.