Flag of St. Louis


The flag of St. Louis, Missouri, consists of a solid red background and three thick, wavy lines colored blue and white extending from the top left corner, bottom left corner, and center right edge. Upon the intersection of these lines there is a yellow disk containing a blue fleur-de-lis. The flag was designed by Yale University professor Theodore Sizer and officially adopted in 1964.
In a 2004 poll on the North American Vexillological Association website, St. Louis’ flag was voted the fifth-best design among United States city flags.

Symbolism and meaning

Revised Code of the City of St. Louis,

History

In 1915, Percival Chubb, Leader of the St. Louis Ethical Society, proposed that the city adopt an official flag. The Pageant-Drama Association held a contest with a $100 prize. In January 1916, they awarded the winning design to Edward A. Krondl, a young commercial artist. Krondl’s design featured an image of Saint Louis riding on a horse on a blue background, with orange and white stripes extending to the right. However, due to disapproval of Krondl’s color scheme and his use of the fleur-de-lis, the city aldermen rejected Krondl’s design and held a contest of their own. The winner of this contest, a man by the name of A.P. Woehrle, was announced in May 1916. Woerhrle’s flag contained three stripes, in addition to stars on every corner and a shield containing Saint Louis in the middle. It was later discovered that Krondl had designed this flag as well, but had submitted it under the name of his friend Woehrle because he “wanted to win on merit and not the prestige gained by winning the previous contest.” The aldermen approved the design, but it wasn’t until 1946 that the flag was officially recognized by a city ordinance.
Around the 1950s many citizens began advocating for the adoption of a new St. Louis flag. Charles Nagel, a St. Louis architect who was particularly critical of the old design, approached Theodore Sizer, an art history professor at Yale University, about constructing a new one. Sizer traveled to St. Louis and created the current flag layout, which has been the official flag of St. Louis since 1964.
In a 2020 Twitter contest called "March Madness of Flags," the St. Louis city flag was voted the best flag in the world, beating out a final four that also included Barbados, Stuttgart and Yaroslavl Oblast.

Design elements used elsewhere