Graceland's Flag |
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In 1936, Albert Hoxie of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania donated
Graceland's first college flag, which had originally been the blue and
yellow flag of the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra. Hoxie had been
conductor of the orchestra and received the flag and an American flag
from the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the orchestra.
After the orchestra disbanded, Hoxie donated the flags to Graceland.
Upon arrival, it was discovered that the colors of the orchestra flag
did not exactly match Graceland's colors. A. Neal Deaver, the business
manager, took the flag to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Anthony who in turn
created the Graceland symbol in the yellow center of the flag to make
the gift useable. In 1946 the more official Graceland College flag was designed and adopted. The new design came after a flag service held at the Administration Building chapel on September 27, 1945. During the service, students presented and explained the flags of the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and Hawaii [Hawaii was not a state at the time]. Bessie Irwin stated that Graceland didn't have its own distinctive flag and pointed out that the colors clashed with the background on that flag that did exist. The assembly decided to form a committee, chaired by acting president A. R. Gilbert, to design a college flag. Financing was provided by the Dramatic Production Class' one-act play, The Mystery of the Masked Girl, which generated $20, and by the Kampus Kaleidoscope all-school variety show, which added $85 to the till. At the time of the RLDS conference the following spring, the flag was still under construction at a company in the eastern United States. Iris McBride made a substitute flag for the conference held on April 11, 1946. The new flag, based on an original design submitted by Emily “Bunny” McCormick Spillman (class of 1932), was revised by Henry Anderson of the faculty and student Donald Benton. The crossing stripes represent Graceland's Christian foundation; the circle symbolizes friendship that is without end; the orb inside the circle symbolizes the world-wide radius of Graceland's influence; and the pine tree expresses the idea of growth and reaching upward, and symbolizes everlasting life. |
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SOURCE: Goehner, David. “The Graceland College Book of Knowledge:
From A To Z.” p. 99. Herald House. Independence MO. 1997. Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, February 2017 NOTE: Graceland University expressly granted permission to Decatur County IAGenWeb to use photographs and materials for the sole purpose of this website. Please, extend courtesy toward Graceland University and Decatur County IAGenWeb ~ ask before you "borrow" from this site. Thank you. These pages have been updated and reformatted by Conni McDaniel Hall, October 2019 |
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