Today’s episode explores the history of our municipal flag — the iconic red, white, and blue banner featuring a fleur-de-lis and the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. But did you know this was not our city’s first flag?
Early City Flags
Prior to the 20th century, municipal flags were rare. Many believed that the American flag—Old Glory—was enough to represent all levels of government.
That changed in 1914 when Baltimore created the first city flag. Soon, many major U.S. cities followed suit.
St. Louis Flag Contests
In 1915, Percival Chubb, leader of the St. Louis Ethical Society, felt St. Louis needed its own flag. The Pageant and Drama Association organized a contest, offering $100 and official recommendation to the City Council.
In January 1916, the winner was announced: Edward A. Krondl’s design.
It featured:
A large white figure of Saint Louis on horseback on a blue background
Four white fleur-de-lis representing the city’s French heritage and its ranking as the 4th largest U.S. city
A white center stripe symbolizing cleanliness and purity
Orange stripes above and below representing gold and prosperity
However, the design was not widely embraced.
Percival Chubb disliked the colors
Critics questioned the use of four fleur-de-lis tied to city ranking — would the flag need updating if the rank changed?
Most importantly, the City Council hated the design and rejected it outright.
The council then launched their own contest. After reviewing 150 designs, on May 20, 1916, A.P. Woehrle won with a flag very similar to Krondl’s.
Woehrle’s flag featured:
Three stripes of red, white, and blue
A blue crest with Saint Louis on horseback in white silhouette
Four fleur-de-lis near the corners
The Board of Aldermen approved this flag, and proudly waved it on a boat trip up and down the Mississippi River.
A Curious Twist
Shortly after, it was discovered that both winning flags — from the Drama Association contest and the City Council contest — were designed by the same artist, Edward Krondl. For the City Council’s contest, he had submitted the design under a friend’s name.
No one seemed to mind — St. Louis finally had a flag.
Official Adoption and Later Discontent
Fast forward to 1946, when a curious citizen researching the flag realized it had never been officially made the city’s flag. The council had been so excited about selecting a winner and celebrating on the river that they never passed an ordinance.
A quick ordinance fixed that — but it reignited public grumbling about the flag’s design.
By the 1950s, complaints grew louder.
Redesign by Theodore Sizer
Architect Charles Nagel reached out to his friend Theodore Sizer, a Yale art professor and expert in flag design.
Sizer was tasked with incorporating:
The city’s French heritage
The Louisiana Purchase
Sports legends
Saint Louis on horseback
Sizer said of the horseman image:
“I have nothing against Saint Louis or his white horse, but on a flag it looks like anybody or any horse. Dammit, you look at it and you can’t tell if it’s Saint Louis, King Arthur or Robert E. Lee.”
Ignoring most requests, Sizer designed the flag we recognize today.
The 1964 Flag Description
On February 3, 1964, the new flag was officially adopted.
From the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis (Section 1.20.010):
The flag features a solid red background with two broad heraldic wavy bars, blue and white, extending from the top and bottom left corners toward the center right edge. This symbolizes the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
Over the point of confluence is a round golden disk displaying a blue fleur-de-lis, highlighting the city’s French roots and honoring St. Louis of France. The golden disk also represents the city and the Louisiana Purchase.
The flag’s colors recall those of:
Spain (red and yellow/gold)
Bourbon France (white and gold)
Napoleonic and Republican France (blue, white, and red)
The United States (red, white, and blue)
Modern Recognition
In 2004, the St. Louis flag was voted one of the top five city flags in the United States.
In 2020, during a Twitter contest called March Madness of Flags, it was named the best city/municipal flag in the world.
Well done, Professor Sizer.
You can find more at:
Twitter: @showme_history
Facebook: ShowMeHistorySTL
Until next time, I’ll see you in the Lou.