Poll Finds Sharp Differences on Flag

Nearly half of the Georgians polled in a recent newspaper survey felt the Confederate emblem belonged on the ballot for a new state flag.

About 48 percent of likely voters said the St. Andrews Cross should have been an option in a referendum on the flag issue next year, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.

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The newspaper reported Friday that 46 percent indicated legislators were right to delete it from Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposal for a statewide vote. Another 6 percent were undecided.

A new state flag without the Confederate emblem was raised over the Capitol this month, following a redesign aimed at ending a dispute that inflamed race relations and roiled Georgia politics.

The statewide newspaper poll was based on telephone interviews with 501 likely voters conducted May 7. The survey has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

The poll also indicated 34 percent would choose the 2001 flag, a blue banner that contained a small Confederate emblem. It was raised under former Gov. Roy Barnes to replace the flag adopted in 1956, that was dominated by the Confederate emblem.

Thirty-five percent polled said they support the design selected by the Legislature this year.

Georgia voters will chose between the new flag and the 2001 flag in a referendum next March.