JACKSON, Miss. - A longtime black state lawmaker says the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag is a "disgrace" and needs to be removed.

Democratic Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood also says the flag is an embarrassment to more than 1 million African-Americans who make up nearly 38 percent of Mississippi's population.

He spoke Thursday as more than 200 people rallied outside the state Capitol for lawmakers to redesign the 122-year-old flag. Mississippi is the last state with a banner featuring the rebel emblem - a red field topped by a blue X dotted by 13 white stars.

Confederate symbols have been widely debated since nine black worshippers were slain last summer in a South Carolina church. The white man charged in the slayings had previously posed for photos with the rebel flag.