The Missouri State Seal and Flag

In my opinion, the Missouri State Seal and Flag need to be fixed. If you have ever heard one of my “Missouri Legends” speeches, then you know why. (Actually, I’m not really upset at all — but fake outrage does well online these days.)

I simply don’t understand how this glaring issue has lasted this long and why few people notice. So before I discuss the big problem with the Missouri State Seal and Flag, here is the history.

The Great Seal of the State of Missouri

The Great Seal of the State of Missouri was adopted in 1822 by the General Assembly. It was designed by Judge Robert William Wells from St. Charles.

The seal includes:

• Scroll that reads, “The Great Seal of the State of Missouri.”
• Blue area with 23 small stars surrounding 1 larger star.
• The large star represents Missouri with the 23 previous states surrounding us.
• Two grizzly bears supporting a belt that reads, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”
• Below that is the state motto, “Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto,” or “Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.”
• The Roman numeral, MDCCCXX.

The Missouri State Flag

The Missouri State Flag is the work of a woman from Ray County named Marie Watkins Oliver. Her father was a successful businessman and farmer, so she grew up in a large home and was well educated. Marie later married her younger brother’s college roommate and moved to Jackson where he was a practicing attorney. The family moved again to Cape Girardeau, which is where she got involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution and became known as the “Betsy Ross of Missouri.”

The Daughter’s of the American Revolution had been behind efforts to design flags for other states, so it made sense for them to pick up the effort in Missouri as well. Marie became the driving force and designed the flag — with the state seal right there in the middle.

The Issue?

So, what’s the problem? It’s the Roman Numeral, MDCCCXX. As Missourians know, the state just celebrated its bicentennial in 2021. So if our year of birth is 1821 ,why would we have 1820 on the flag and the seal? According to historical documents, and interviews with state historians, that date was used because that is the year the state “officially began doing business,” but before we were officially a state.

The bottom line is… this is not a major issue! But it is another piece of Missouri history that is truly unique. I checked many other states that have a date on their official state seal, and they all seem to correspond with their year of admission into the country. The odds are pretty good that the Missouri number of 1820 will never change, so file this piece of information away in case you ever need it for a Jeopardy! question