Missouri Flag
Flag Adoption Date: March 22, 1913
The Missouri state flag was designed almost 75 years after it achieved statehood. The idea for a flag originated in 1908, when the Daughters of the American Revolution formed a committee to look into designing a state flag.
Designed by the the Mrs. Marie Elizabeth Oliver, a wife of Senator Robert Burett Oliver, who was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Flag’s Design
Centered on red, white and blue fields is the Missouri state seal. It is encircled by a blue band with twenty-four stars representing the number of states in 1821. The stars in the inner circle have the same meaning. Two huge grizzly bears support the circular shield in the center which has three parts:
- The motto “United We Stand, Divided we Fall”
- The right section represents the United States
- The left section, containing a moon, represents a new state and a grizzly bear standing for courage.
Flag Symbolism
- Blue stripe – vigilance, permanency, and justice
- Red stripe – valor
- White stripe – purity