'Compass Crown' flies high across Springfield as residents celebrate new city flag

Raising it into the blinding Ozarks sun, Springfield city leaders and more than 100 onlookers joined together Tuesday in downtown Springfield to celebrate the light blue and white 'compass crown' flag now high above their heads.

First introduced in 2017 by the Springfield Identity Project, the flag now officially represents all of Springfield and its residents to the world.

In his remarks, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure asked Springfieldians to adopt the flag for themselves as a point of pride.

"Here you will find entrepreneurs, outdoorsmen, artists, athletes, and ... basically any kind of achiever that you can imagine. But too often we hesitate to brag on ourselves," McClure said. "I urge you to recognize the flag as a way to express your community pride. Let this new flag speak to not only our unique history and identity, but also serve as a symbol of hope, opportunity and the transformative days ahead."

McClure also honored the flag that was leaving Springfield's flagpoles — saying it has "served us well." The flag lowered during the Park Central Square ceremony will be given to the History Museum on the Square for an exhibit.

Dispelling any accusation of flags' unimportance, McClure said their symbol can be vital to bring hope to a community.

"Powerful in its ability to store emotion, a flag represents an idea or an ideal. It is neither a mere piece of decoration, nor an object to be honored for itself. It is honored for what it represents. Many flags are held in high esteem for their history. The sacrifices made by the people for the qualities for which the city and the people they represent."

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He pointed to the recent example of the Ukrainian flag, which has now become "instantly recognizable" in its yellow and blue.

"I watched scenes from literally all around the world of people flying the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with its people," McClure noted. "Young and old, they wrapped themselves in the flag, boldly waved it and shared its colors in every way possible. It is a symbol of unity, and a symbol of hope."

Even CoxSouth lit its building with those colors over the weekend to represent the hospital's solidarity with Ukraine as it is invaded by Russia.

"That is the power of the symbol of a flag," McClure said just before Springfield's new flag was raised amid a performance by the Central High School Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps.

The mayor was joined by dozens of Springfield residents, many who were decked out in the new flag's colors. Hotel Vandivort owner and co-founder of the Springfield Identity Project John McQueary was among them — wearing the flag his group created nearly six years ago.

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McQueary told the News-Leader the day's festivities were just another example of how Springfield had already adopted their flag.

"I think the community has connected with the design and used it in their own way for so long. And I think this is the city government's reaction to seeing the community kind of adopt the flag on their own."

The flag has not been adopted by everyone — with one group of residents attempting a petition drive to stop the new flag's adoption after city council approved it in January. Asked about the controversy surrounding the flag, McQueary said it was just further evidence of residents' passion for the Queen City.

"If nothing else, it demonstrates how many people care deeply about this community. Not everybody's going to like the design. I get that," McQueary said. "And I think some people were confused about where we came from, or why we did this. But the positive I take away from that is it demonstrates how many people are passionate about this community."

Also among the crowd was a group of grade school and middle school children from the Discovery Center. They had been going to a nearby library branch before stopping in the downtown square for a lesson on city civics.

Asked if he was excited to attend the flag-raising ceremony, sixth-grader Trevor said he was "super excited."

"We got to skip school time. And I just got to meet the mayor. He's super cool. Because I've never gotten to meet the mayor before so I just thought that was really cool," the student said.

Trevor added he plans on putting a sticker of the new flag on his backpack.

"It's a cool design and I'm glad I got to be here."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield raises new city 'compass crown' flag, retires historic one