(CNN) University of Mississippi student senators voted Tuesday evening in favor of a resolution asking the university to remove the Mississippi flag, which includes the iconic blue cross and stars representing the states of the Confederacy, from campus.

Thirty-three student senators voted in favor of the resolution, 15 opposed it, and one abstained.

Oxford is a place where tradition is revered, and Confederate symbolism has long been important to the school's image. Ole Miss athletic teams are called the Rebels, and until 2003, Colonel Reb was the university's mascot. (In 2010, Rebel Black Bear was selected as the school's mascot.)

Thus, it's little surprise that calls to take down the state flag around campus -- a move that would mirror the August decision by the Oxford Board of Aldermen to remove the flag from city property -- have been met with a fair amount of criticism. After all, this is in a state that voted in 2001 by a margin of 64% to 36% to leave the flag as is.

Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz prominently feature the flag on the cover of their album "Put Yo Hood Up." He says showing it -- and showing it burning -- takes power away from racists. "We burned the flag on the album cover and in the music video," he told the Daily Beast

In the OutKast's video "Sorry Ms. Jackson," Atlanta-born rapper Andre 3000 wore a prominently featured flag belt buckle. He wore it "for Southern pride and to rebel," he told Vibe magazine.

In the OutKast's video "Sorry Ms. Jackson," Atlanta-born rapper Andre 3000 wore a prominently featured flag belt buckle. He wore it "for Southern pride and to rebel," he told Vibe magazine.

Ludacris wore a Confederate flag outfit at the 2005 Vibe Awards -- and then stripped it off to reveal a flag in African pride colors. "This flag represents the oppression that we as African Americans have endured for years," the Georgia-raised rapper said.

Kid Rock has been an outspoken supporter of the flag in the wake of recent controversy. The Michigan-born musician hasn't displayed it recently, but used it when promoting his 2012 album "Rebel Soul." He told off protesters in a Fox News interview

The General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger from the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard," featured a flag on its roof. Warner Bros. said it would no longer license models of the car with the flag. One of the show's stars, John Schneider, told The Hollywood Reporter that he was unhappy with the decision. Though acknowledging others may see it as a symbol of racism, he said, "If the flag was a symbol of racism, then Bo and Luke and Daisy and Uncle Jesse were a pack of wild racists and that could not be further from the truth."

Kanye West has wrapped himself in the flag and worn flag decals. "I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag now. Now what you gonna do?" he told a Los Angeles radio station

The Southern rock band Molly Hatchet has defended its use of the flag. "We still stand by our heritage, which is the South," guitarist Bobby Ingram told Hot Metal in 2013 . "I don't look at it as being racist at all. I look at it as heritage, not hate."

The Confederate flag has been as much a part of popular culture as politics in the last few decades. Tom Petty, who displayed it on his 1985 Southern Accents tour, told Rolling Stone he was "dumb" to do so. "I was pretty ignorant of what it actually meant," he said. Here are others who have waved the flag -- or used it for their own purposes:

Not only has a petition to keep the flag garnered more than 200 supporters, but according to the Ole Miss student newspaper , flag supporters have attended anti-flag rallies carrying signs saying, "This is our University too," "#whataboutus?," "I am more than a flag" and "Straight Outta Patience."

The Daily Mississippian quoted Shaun Winkler, one of a dozen members of a Ku Klux Klan organization attending one such rally last week, saying that since June's church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina , "black leftist communism" groups have begun forming.

"I feel that the Ku Klux Klan is no more racist than the Black Lives Matter (movement)," he told the newspaper. "The Black Lives Matter is just as racist as the Ku Klux Klan could be."

It's true that Confederate tributes have come under increased scrutiny in the South since the killings of nine African-Americans at Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. That's something the president of the Ole Miss College Democrats, Allen Coon, pointed out in a statement last month.

Saying the Charleston shooting forced the nation to "reconcile with symbols of oppression," he called on the Associated Student Body to approve the nonbinding resolution to have the state flag removed from campus. The school's NAACP chapter issued a similar statement

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"The presence of the Mississippi state flag on the campus of the University of Mississippi divides our student body, undermines efforts to promote inclusion and violates the UM Creed, which calls for us all to respect the dignity of each person," Coon's statement said.

In an interview with CNN over the weekend, he said , "We are forever tied to the horrors of our past" by flying the flag.

"We've flown this symbol of oppression. We've defended it. We fought for it, and it's time to recognize that that was a mistake," he said.

It's a stance that seems to sit just fine with the university administration, which released a statement saying, "As a state institution, we fly the flags representing our state and nation. However, as a university committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive campus for all students, we continue to join other leaders in Mississippi to encourage our government to change the state flag."

In August, actor Morgan Freeman, author John Grisham and musician Jimmy Buffett were among more than 60 people who signed a letter, published in The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, calling on the state to come up with a new flag.

Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag A veteran of the Confederate States of America examines a Union water bottle in front of a Confederate flag. Here's a look at the evolution of that flag. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag The first national flag of the Confederate States of America was created in 1861 and had seven stars to represent the breakaway states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag The second National Flag of the Confederacy was issued by the Confederate Congress on May 1, 1863. This flag was designed to have a distinct difference from the Union's Stars and Stripes. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag The third National Flag of the Confederacy was the final flag of the Confederate government and was adopted on March 4, 1865. The flag was not used long before the Confederacy surrendered. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag The Confederate Battle flag known as the "Southern Cross" has 13 stars to represent the defeated Confederate States of America. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Evolution of the Confederate flag Dixiecrats resurrected the "Southern Cross" flag as a political symbol around the time President Harry Truman supported efforts to end lynchings and desegregate the military in 1948. During that same period, the Ku Klux Klan began using the flag more widely. Hide Caption 6 of 6

to change the state flag. At least three of the state's public universities already do not fly the flag. Before the statewide referendum in 2001, Mississippi State University's Faculty Senate voted to support efforts to change the state flag.

Still, there was no shortage of people urging the student senators to protect the state flag with Tuesday's vote.

In the aforementioned petition , Andrew Soper, a student senator, wrote, "Removing symbols, flags and monuments will do nothing to change the way people feel in their hearts."

"Ole Miss Students and my fellow Mississippians, rise up and push back on political correctness and support the state flag," he implored.

But Coon insists the vote doesn't have to be divisive.

"Why can't we get behind this? Why can't we understand that this is something that affects people every day that they go to class?" he said. "If it doesn't pass, we'll find a way."