While writing a History Center column last September about Bossier City officially being named a city, I learned that along with that new title, Bossier gained its first official city flag. This made me curious as to how many official flags the city has had through the years and where the flags might be today.
In 1951, due to Bossier’s population growth, Louisiana Governor Earl Long issued a proclamation stating that henceforth, Bossier would be known as the City of Bossier City. Prior to this, it had been a village and then a town. As part of the celebrations surrounding this auspicious occasion, The Planter’s Press newspaper announced on August 23, 1951 that the Bossier Chamber of Commerce was sponsoring a design contest for an “initial municipal flag” to be unfurled during festivities marking “the community’s advancement from class of town to that of city.”
The winning entry was provided by Bossier resident and school teacher Velma Hagert, whose concept featured a green background with Bossier City, Louisiana in white letters encircling a gold star containing a Magnolia blossom. According to The Planter’s Press of September 13, the contest’s selection committee changed the Magnolia to a cotton boll, because, as committee chairman and businessman Arthur Ray Teague was quoted as saying, “The cotton boll is more in keeping with our territory.” And the star was changed to a circle. The flag made its public debut at those advancement festivities, held at Bossier High School’s Memorial Stadium.
Thirty-one years later, Bossier City was preparing for another celebration, its 75th anniversary. The Shreveport Journal of March 12, 1982 carried the news that a second contest, sponsored this time by the Bossier Arts Council, was being held to “create a new city flag.” According to the newspaper, Ms. Hagert welcomed the idea. “It’s time for a new city flag …,” she is quoted as saying in The Journal’s April 1 edition. “We’ve progressed in the 30 years since I designed my cotton flag.” But on page 31D of that same April 1 edition, the newspaper simply refers to the new design as “a special commemorative flag,” hinting that it would not replace Ms. Hagert’s flag.
During anniversary ceremonies on Saturday, April 3, the new flag was unveiled. Designed by Bossier High School student John Jones, it showed a star overlapping the state and had the year of Bossier’s incorporation as a village - 1907 - within the star. An article in The Shreveport Journal on April 4, highlighting the previous day’s celebratory events, refers to the flag as being an “anniversary” flag, but makes no mention of it being the city’s official flag. And minutes of the Bossier City Council meeting for March 30, 1982, printed in the Bossier Tribune on April 9, show a motion was unanimously approved to recognize the design “as commemorative of the 75th birthday of Bossier City.” So, it seems this flag was associated more with Bossier’s birthday than being an official banner.
By 1986, there was another call for a new city flag. As part of a campaign called “Standing Proud Bossier City”, the National Bank of Bossier, in coordination with the mayor’s office, sponsored a design contest, offering $500 for an original layout. Of the approximately 145 entries, one offered by 30-year-old Bossier City resident Randy Canterbury was chosen. It featured colors of red, white and blue with the words Bossier City in script. A curved ribbon representing the Red River had a star showing the city’s location on the river. This became Bossier City’s official flag and remains so today. Canterbury was understandably proud. “It will be something to tell my grandchildren about,” he said in an interview with the Bossier Press Tribune for the newspaper’s April 30, 1986 issue.
Since becoming a village in 1907, Bossier has had two official flags. While examples of the current city flag are readily available, the original city flag may now only exist in old photos. So far, I’ve been unable to uncover the whereabouts of that first flag, flown during the festivities to acknowledge Bossier gaining city status in 1951. I’m interested in speaking with anyone who might know if it still exists and have access to it. I’d also like to learn the whereabouts of the anniversary flag. It too is a piece of history worth saving.
If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/
Images:
- First official flag of Bossier City held (l to r) by Bossier councilmen Clyde Nelson Jr., C.L. Madden Jr. and acting Shreveport Mayor John Ford during celebrations of Bossier becoming a city in 1951/courtesy The Shreveport Times, Langston McEachern.
- Bossier's 75th anniversary commemorative flag/courtesy The Shreveport Journal,1982.
- Current official flag of Bossier City/courtesy Wikipedia.org.
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