Panel ponders changes to Missouri flag

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- After 100 years, the Missouri state flag could see a few changes.

A Missouri House committee held a public hearing last week to consider legislation that would create a commission to study the flag.

Under House Bill 1241, the commission would include eight members appointed by the governor from each congressional district plus the Secretary of State or their designee, who will serve as chairman of the commission.

According to the bill -- sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart -- the commission would hold public hearings around the state to receive proposals to "standardize or modify" the flag and prepare a report of its findings for the governor, secretary of state and general assembly.

The bill also states members will serve "without compensation or reimbursement of expenses incurred," and the office of the secretary of state will provide funding, administrative support and staff for the commission.

The state flag was designed in 1913 by Marie Watkins Oliver, wife of state Sen. R.B. Oliver, at the Oliver-Leming House in Cape Girardeau. The flag features the Missouri coat of arms, the state motto and two grizzly bears.

Bonnie Stepenoff, director of the Cape River Heritage Museum, said she doesn't see the need for a new flag.

"It's been our state flag for 100 years, so just for tradition's sake, we should

respect it," she said.

The flag is part of Cape Girardeau's identity, Stepenoff added, and it's difficult to guess what effect a new or altered flag could have on the city's tourism. Keeping the traditional flag also honors Marie Oliver, she said, whom she called a "remarkable woman."

"[Changing the flag] doesn't show respect for the history we have here in Cape," she said. " ... We like the flag we have."

Stepenoff said some people may support changing the flag to honor more of the state's French history. Missouri was one of many territories claimed by French settlers during the late 1600s and was home to a number of French trading posts along the Mississippi River. The entire territory was sold to the United States during the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Stepenoff said the Cape River Heritage Museum displays a French flag in some exhibits to honor that part of the state's history. However, she still believes the state's flag "represents the unity of our history as a state."

"A good story has been told, and we tell it in our historical homes and here at the museum," she said.

A request for comments left with Roorda's office Tuesday morning was unreturned. House Bill 1241 was considered by the House Veterans Committee in a public hearing Feb. 4, but the committee did not vote on the measure.