One flag was green-white-green with "Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul" ("State of Mato Grosso do Sul") centered in the white stripe and the other was blue-white-blue with "Estado de Campo Grande" ("State of Campo Grande") centered in the white stripe with five stars in the formation of the Southern Cross in the upper-left corner.

The flag that won the contest was designed by a group of 2nd year students in the College of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo.

The blue field on the current flag was intended to be ochre by the student team to convey the importance of the red Terra Roxa [pt] soil to the agriculturally-dependent economy and rural culture of the newly founded state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

[5] The student team was told that the ochre was changed to blue as it did not conform to heraldic tincture, but the actual reason was to have the same colors as the national flag.

[1] Ideais trabalhados e realidade construída: bandeira, flâmula magna, símbolo máximo a pairar sobre nossa Terra, pois, aparentemente frágil em sua haste, na realidade traduz a força conjunta de toda a população de um Estado.

Nós somos a estrela dourada que brilha no céu azul da esperança, a simbolizar a riqueza do nosso labor.