The flag of Missouri was introduced on 22nd of March in 1913, it was created by Marie Elizabeth Oliver in 1908. The flag shows three horizontal stripes in red, white and blue, the colours of France, the former colonial power, and the state seal in the middle of the flag, surrounded by a wreath of twenty-four stars. Missouri became the twenty-fourth state to join the USA in 1821. The state seal was introduced on 11th of January in 1822. The design was created by Robert William Wells. It shows a round shield with a crescent (birth of a new state), a bear (courage, size and strength of Missouri) and the heraldic eagle of the USA (solidarity with the USA). The shield is surrounded by a banner with the slogan: "United we stand, divided we fall". One bear each holds the shield to the left and right of the coat of arms. They stand on a banner with the state motto: "Salus populi suprema lex esto" → "The health of the people should be the supreme law". Below this is the Roman date 1820, the year in which the first organs of the state began their work. Above the shield a helmet with blankets and twenty-four small and one large star. The large star stands for Missouri itself. The colours of the flag have the following meanings: Blue – vigilance, constancy and justice, red – valour, white – purity.
With the decision of the officially dissolved Missouri Parliament (therefore its decisions were not officially recognised) to leave the USA on 28th of October in 1861 and the decision to join the Confederacy of the Southern States (CSA) on 28th of November in 1861, the Civil War was brought into the country. The population was mostly on the side of the Confederacy and more than 60.000 men volunteered to fight on the side of the CSA. The troops of the northern states (USA) operated with extreme rigour in the country and against the civilian population (e.g. Camp Jackson massacre). A state army – the Missouri State Guard – was formed to repel the attacks. Other troops fought in separate units in the CSA army under the Missouri battle flag, a blue bunting edged in red except at the pole, with a large white Latin cross shifted towards the pole. After the CSA no longer had any troops in Missouri from 1864, the Missouri Partisan Rangers continued the fight to protect the population. They allegedly had a single-coloured black flag with a white "Q" in the upper corner. It stood for William C. Quantrill, the leader of the militia. This flag probably never existed and was designed after the war.
4th of July 1805 · today's Missouri is part of the Louisiana Territory
7th of December 1812 · formation of the Missouri Territory, Capital City: St. Louis
10th of October 1821 · Missouri becomes the 24th State in the USA, Capital City: St. Charles, as compensation for the slave state of Missouri the "Commonwealth of Maine" becomes separated from Massachusetts and becomes the 23rd state in the USA
1825 · Jefferson City is the capital
28th of October 1861 · the officially dissolved the Parliament of Missouri (hence his decisions were not officially recognized) decides to withdraw Missouri from the USA
1861–1865 · Civil War: attacks by troops of the Northern States (USA) operating with extremely high hardness in the country and against the civilian population, the people stand mostly on the side of the Confederacy, establishing of a state army – the Missouri State Guard, more than 60.000 men fight voluntarily on the side of the CSA, the CSA Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson goes on 8th of March in 1862 to Arkansas in exile, until 1864 the CSA troops become pushed away, the Missouri Partisan Rangers continued their battle to protect the population
9th of April 1865 · General Lee surrenders at Appomattox (Virginia) as commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, the other CSA Armies capitulate gradually until July 1865, because Missouri did not officially join the CSA (the by the USA recognized government), cause no measures of the "reconstruction" (forced return of the CSA states in the USA)
The name "Missouri" goes back to a Native American name for the river of the same name. In the past, it was simply translated as "muddy river". Today it is said that the name comes from the Sioux language and means "city of the big canoes". Another theory is that it goes back to the Siouan name of the Missouria Indian tribe (Niúachi). The neighbouring Irenwa people called them "Wimihsoorita", which translates as "one who has dugout canoes".
