SPRINGFIELD, Mo – A flag that has been circulating the streets of Springfield for two and a half years has finally made its way to a city council committee.

The topic of this week’s Community Involvement Committee Meeting on Tuesday was a proposed Springfield flag made by the group, Springfield Identity Project. The group is spearheaded by Hotel Vandivort Owner John McQueary and Mystery Hour Host Jeff Houghton.

The group created the flag two and a half years ago. The flag is split into three rectangles with the top being the biggest. Superimposed on the rectangles are three four-point stars and a compass rose with a crown.

Here is a list of what their flag means:

  • Three stars: Innovative Spirit, Connection with Nature, and Ozarks Culture
  • White area: the Ozark Plateau and Route 66
  • Compass: represents how Springfield has served as the crossroads of the nation
  • Crown: represents Springfield’s title as the Queen City

During the meeting, McQueary and Houghton gave a presentation to Councilmembers Richard Ollis, Craig Hosmer, Jan Fisk, and Phyllis Ferguson about their proposed flag with hopes to get the council to start talking about updating the city’s flag.

“It becoming official, to be honest, was a secondary goal, the main goal was to come up with an authentic icon that people connected with and could use to express their pride living in Springfield,” says McQueary.

Ollis said that he is excited about the energy behind this new flag idea.

“Obviously this has been a very popular endeavor and a very popular flag design so I like the energy,” says Ollis.

McQueary says they want people to be able to voice their opinions about the future flag of Springfield.

“We feel like it’s the one but we’re just a group of people and we want to make sure that everybody has their voice heard.”

History of the Current Springfield Flag

Prior to the presentation by the Springfield Identity Project, Springfield Director of Public Information Cora Scott gave a presentation about the current Springfield flag.

Courtesy: The Springfield News-Leader

The current flag has been with the city since 1938. The current flag has three rectangles, one red, white, and blue with four white stars on each corner with Springfield Missouri right in the middle of the flag.

Here is what the current flag means:

  • Red & blue bars: cooperation and civic pride
  • White bar: renown for her achievements
  • Four stars: religion, homes, education, and industry

Her presentation also stated that the flag was first attached to a flag pole was in 1966 at the Sheraton Motor Inn at Glenstone and Kearney.

Below is what Ollis and McQueary want to do about the current flag.

Moving forward Ollis says they are working on a plan to get the community involved about their thoughts on the flag.

“The next step is figuring out what the process is. What kind of process do we want to go through to gain public input and buy-in about whether we even want or need to change the flag and secondly if we do, what type of process do we want to get through to bring the public together to get input.”

For more on the Springfield Identity Project, click here.