The flag of Missouri was adopted in 1913. The flag contains three horizontal bands coloured red, white and blue with the state seal in the center. The colours symbolize the state’s historic ties to the French Louisiana Territory but also represents valor, purity, vigilance and justice. Around the state seal are twenty four stars to represent Missouri as the 24th state admitted into the United States.
The nickname for Missouri is The Show Me State. There are several stories concerning the origin of the “show me” slogan. The most widely known story gives credit to Missouri’s U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver for coining the phrase in 1899. During a speech in Philadelphia, he said:
“I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”
The phrase is now used to describe the character of Missourians – not gullible – conservative and unwilling to believe without adequate evidence.
"44-HS-949" 
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