A Republican candidate for Mississippi attorney general is calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state flag, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.

Andy Taggart told the publication the flag represents an emphasis on the past over the future, an emphasis he said is driving young people to leave the state.

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Taggart said the flag serves as a “snapshot” of the state. He added that the state flag -- the only one to feature the Confederate emblem -- summarizes Mississippi in terms of the Civil War.

"That is not an accurate snapshot of our state," Taggart said, "but that is exactly what some people conclude when they see the snapshot."

The state attorney general has no authority to change the state flag but Taggart told the Clarion Ledger he is emphasizing the issue to give legislators “conservative cover” to support a new flag.

"Unlike monuments, unlike street names, unlike building names, our state flag is supposed to be the banner under which all of us march and is a symbol of unity for all of us in the state of Mississippi," Taggart said. "And no matter how strongly people feel as though we ought to keep the current state flag, every objective observer would have to agree: Our current state flag is not a banner that unifies Mississippians."

Rep. Mark Baker (R), one of Taggart’s primary opponents, is the only Republican candidate who has yet to call for changing the state flag, according to the Clarion Ledger, although he did not tell the newspaper his personal feelings on it. Calls to change it are “just for stirring up stuff," Baker said. "I don't really understand what the motivation is."

Jennifer Riley Collins, the only Democrat running for attorney general, also did not call for the flag to be changed. "For me the issue is less about taking the current flag down and denying any part of the state's history but instead more about lifting a flag that represents the pride all Mississippians have for our state,” she said, according to the Clarion Ledger.