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Missouri: State Flag, Bird and Facts

Missouri lists the eastern bluebird as its state bird and the hawthorn as its state flower.

Capital
Jefferson City
Nickname
The Show Me State
State bird
Eastern bluebird
State flower
Hawthorn
State tree
Flowering dogwood
Admitted
August 10, 1821
Population
6,154,913 (2020 census)
Motto
Salus populi suprema lex esto
Region
Midwest
Area
180,533 km² (69,704 sq mi)
Highest point
Taum Sauk Mountain (1,772 ft)

About Missouri

Eight states border Missouri: Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. People have lived here for at least 12,000 years, and the Mississippian culture built cities with large ceremonial mounds. French colonists started Ste. Genevieve in 1735, then St. Louis in 1764. The United States gained the land through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Jefferson City is the capital, while St. Louis and Kansas City anchor the two largest urban areas. Missouri played a central role as settlers pushed west, which explains the nickname Gateway to the West. Three equal stripes of red, white and blue cross the flag, and the coat of arms sits at the center. Red stands for valor, white for purity and blue for justice. Mary Elizabeth Oliver of Cape Girardeau designed it.

Did you know?

  • Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest point in Missouri at 1,772 feet.
  • The flowering dogwood is Missouri's official state tree.
  • Missouri's red, white and blue flag also nods to the state's early French influence.

Questions about Missouri

What is Missouri's nickname?

Its official nickname is The Show Me State, and the phrase appears on license plates.

When did Missouri become a state?

Missouri was admitted on August 10, 1821, as a slave state under the Missouri Compromise.

Other Midwest states

Sources

Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

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