Friday 8 July 2016

History Of Missouri Flag

By Greg Haggard


Missouri's recorded history begins in the latter half of the 17th cent. when the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet descended the Mississippi River, followed by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who claimed the whole area drained by the Mississippi River for France, calling the territory Louisiana.

Missouri's state flag consists of three horizontal stripes of red on the top, white in the center and blue on the bottom. A circle is centered on the flag while being surrounded by a band of blue with 24 white five-pointed stars. Contained within the circle, the Missouri coat of arms appears which was designed by Judge Robert William Wells. The center of the seal is composed of a three-part shield held by a grizzly bear on each side. On the right is the United States coat of arms which features a bald eagle whose claws clutch handfuls of arrows and an olive branch.

On the left side stands a grizzly bear and a crescent moon. The motto, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” surrounds the three parts within the circle. The coat-of-arms also features a yellow scroll at the bottom which reads, “Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto.” That’s Latin for, “Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.” Below the scroll is the Roman Numerals for 1820, the year Missouri became a member of the United States. Above the shield is a knight’s helmet which has 23 smaller stars and one larger star to represent Missouri.

These stars bring into light that Missouri was the 24th state to become a member of the Union. There is another cluster of 24 stars within the shield, that hint at the same connotation. The central state coat of arms is held by 2 grizzly bears.

His mother's original flag was given to the State of Missouri in 1961 by Allen Oliver. It was on public display for a number of years and when it began to deteriorate, the flag was put into a storage vault.

The moon also serves as a reminder that while Missouri had a small population and little wealth, there was hope it would increase like a crescent moon. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Missouri flag for the future.




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