Confederate Imagery Taken Down in US Capitol

— -- The controversial Mississippi state flag -- along with flags from the 49 other states -- will not return to one of the most well-traveled tunnels under the U.S. Capitol.

House Administration Committee Chairman Candice Miller, R-Michigan, announced Thursday that she has ordered the state flags to be replaced by prints from each state's official coin after controversy erupted last year over the Confederate imagery in several Southern state flags following a shooting at a historical black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

"Given the controversy surrounding confederate imagery, I decided to install a new display," Miller said in a statement. "I am well aware of how many Americans negatively view the Confederate flag, and, personally, I am very sympathetic to these views."

She continued: "I also believe that it is not the business of the federal government to dictate what flag each state flies. This is the ‘People’s House’ where each congressional district sends their designated representative to be their voice in the halls of Congress. With that, it is common practice for each member of Congress to display their state flag, alongside of the American flag, outside their individual offices and in this way all state flags are displayed on Capitol Hill.”

The flags were displayed in one of the the many tunnels connecting the U.S. Capitol to the House and Senate office buildings.