Wishing for a different design and more local pride, a Jefferson City resident has started a campaign to replace the Jefferson City flag.
T.C. Farrar started the JC Flag Project in late July, creating a website, Facebook page and Instagram account for the project to get the word out.
The goal is three-fold: create a simple flag that meets the five design rules of flags, get it adopted by the city and end up with a design Jefferson City residents will more widely display.
The idea started about four years ago, when Farrar became interested in city flags after watching a video about them and started doing research. More recently, he visited Tulsa, Oklahoma, and saw residents wearing and displaying their city flag.
Farrar said he wants to see Jefferson City's flag be embraced that way, so the JC Flag Project was created.
The first step is to come up with a new design.
The current flag was adopted by the city in 1990 and was designed by David Woodside.
It features a depiction of the Missouri Capitol dome surrounded by 24 white stars to symbolize Missouri's status as the 24th state to join the United States. Wavy blue and white stripes represent the Missouri River, and there is a white outline of the state. The words "Jefferson City, Missouri" complete the design.
"It's not a very good flag, especially if you look at the five basic principles of flag design," Farrar said. "It breaks a couple of those principles."
Farrar is referencing the five design rules created by the North American Vexillological Association. Vexillology is the study of flags.
The rules are: keep it simple, use meaningful symbolism, use two or three basic colors, no lettering or seals, and be distinctive or related.
Farrar said the current flag breaks the simplicity rule and the rule of no lettering or seals.
So, as part of the JC Flag Project, Farrar is reaching out to the community for a new design by accepting submissions from anyone who wants to participate.
The plan is to narrow down the submissions using a panel of judges until there are three designs. At that point, the designs would be presented to the Jefferson City Council for a final decision and potential official adoption.
Jefferson City Attorney Ryan Moehlman said the flag is adopted by city ordinance, so a new flag would need to be brought before the City Council as a new bill and approved, just like any other city ordinance.
If the council did not want to change the flag, Farrar said, the residents of the city could just adopt it unofficially as the people's flag. So far, Farrar has not made contact with the city about the process, as the effort is still in early stages.
However, Farrar has already received five design submissions.
"The submissions that have come, some are local and some are people out there that just want to see better flags," he said. "I've gotten a submission from a guy in Texas."
While he has no interest in designing the flag himself, Farrar said he likes the inclusion of important symbols like the Missouri River and the Capitol.
"I think that's pretty important and kind of cool to keep on the flag, but really, I just want people to be creative with it and design their version of what's important to them in the flag," he said.
Other ideas Farrar has considered would be working with local schools to have children design flags, an option inspired by his own son's interest.
But replacing the city flag is just half of the effort. Farrar also wants to see the flag more widely used and accessible to people or businesses that might want to put it on merchandise.
"The thought behind it is the city flag is kind of something for them to rally under," Farrar said. "For me, when I go someplace, I always look for something local to purchase, something that represents the city that I'm in - just something that serves as a symbol so when people see it they know it's Jeff City and they're excited about it."