For Vincent Jackson, a Black retired State Trooper, wearing the coat of arms as a patch on his uniform for years was “painful” since the design includes a Confederate battle flag symbol.

Along with the Confederate flag, Alabama’s coat of arms features a shield with the flags of three countries that held territory in what later became Alabama: Great Britain, France and Spain.

The coat of arms was designed during the Jim Crow era to include the Confederate flag. Underneath the shield is the state’s motto: “We dare defend our rights,” written in Latin. The state ...