Sep 25, 2023
Just as the US flag had many iterations before it, in 1960, finally became what we know today, the city flag of St. Louis went through several versions before it arrived, in 1964, at the current version. Just press play to hear the whole story.
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Podcast Transcript: I’m
Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society,
and here’s history on 88-one, KDHX. ———
If you’ve spent any time in St. Louis, you’ve surely spotted the red banner with a fleur-de-lis and river-like blue lines that announces the city to the world. But while you might presume St. Louis’s flag has flown since the city’s earliest days, it’s actually a pretty recent addition to our civic symbols. Its barely older than the Gateway Arch, and wasn’t the first flag the city had. ———
In 1915, a local civic group launched a contest to design a St. Louis flag, and south side artist Edward Krondl won over 80 other entrants. His design featured Art Hill’s statue of St. Louis outlined in blue, with vivid orange and white stripes symbolizing prosperity, purity, and wealth. But when the St. Louis Board of Aldermen saw the color palette they grimaced, and in summer 1916 announced their own flag competition. ———
The second winning city flag design again featured the statue of St. Louis, now over red white and blue stripes, with four stars symbolizing that St. Louis was the nation’s 4th largest city in population. The 1916 city flag became St. Louis’s first official one, but its weaknesses quickly showed. The design looked cluttered, the horseback figure of St. Louis was reduced to a blur when the flag was waving, and the stars became meaningless as St. Louis shifted in the population ranks. ———
With St. Louis’s bicentennial approaching in February 1964, Yale University heraldry expert Theodore Sizer came to the rescue. He presented the St. Louis city flag design that now stands beside civic landmarks, waves from front porches, and graces t-shirts and coffee mugs. Sizer’s St. Louis flag embodies all five of the North American Vexillogical Association’s “good flag design” principles – it’s simple enough to draw from memory, has meaningful symbolism, uses limited colors, contains no lettering or seals, and doesn’t copy from existing flags. ———
In 2004, the St. Louis flag was named among the top five U.S. city flags, and thousands of voters in a 2020 March Madness-style social media contest crowned St. Louis’s flag the world’s best. ———
Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———