JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Spectators at the Mississippi Capitol broke into applause Saturday as lawmakers took a big step toward erasing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, a symbol that has come under intensifying criticism in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.

"The eyes of the state, the nation and indeed the world are on this House," the second-ranking office in the Mississippi House, Jason White, told his colleagues.

The House and Senate voted by more than the required two-thirds majority to suspend legislative deadlines and file a bill to change the...