FAIRBANKS—University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Brian Rogers ordered the Mississippi state flag removed from a campus display on Monday morning, citing a growing controversy over the flag’s inclusion of the Confederate battle emblem.

U.S. state flags are displayed at Cornerstone Plaza on UAF’s lower campus, forming a ring around a circular concrete area. Only 49 flagpoles remain now, with an empty spot where flag No. 20 — the Mississippi flag — stood until Monday.

Mississippi State Flag.

Mississippi State Flag.

“In light of the national debate on the use of the Confederate battle flag in public institutions, the chancellor made the decision to remove the Mississippi flag from the Circle of Flags in Cornerstone Plaza,” UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes said.

Displaying the Confederate flag, as well as objects that include its imagery, has been at the center of an intensifying national debate in the past month. The gunman in a racially motivated massacre at a South Carolina church in June posed with a Confederate flag in photos before the attack, and critics have said it still serves as a powerful symbol of slavery and racism.

Grimes said she didn’t know of any complaints that had been made about the UAF flag display or whether there are plans to include something else in its place. The flag collection at Cornerstone Plaza has been featured since at least the early 1960s, she said, although the display may have been intermittent or seasonal for some of its history.

UAF isn’t alone in its decision to remove the Confederate image from displays recently.

Juneau officials removed the Mississippi flag on Saturday from a display along a prominent street. They replaced that flag, which includes an image of the Confederate flag in the corner, with the Magnolia flag that Mississippi previously used.

Last week, South Carolina removed the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the State House following public criticism of its display.

The Mississippi flag remains on display along the Cushman Street Bridge, where the U.S. flags line the street. Festival Fairbanks, which maintains the downtown display, hadn’t received any complaints as of last week, Executive Director Julie Engfer Jones said.