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The Liberty
Bowl Flag
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While driving by the Liberty
Bowl Memorial Stadium this
weekend,
I noticed that the Flag
was not "on" and by agreement
from 1977, it should be.
Below is "my history" of the
Flag:
*** Update 10/01/14: On nightly drives by the Liberty Bowl now in 2014, it is nice
to see the proud flag aglow in lights! ***
The Commercial Appeal moved into
the building on the
southeast
corner of
Second Street and
Court
Avenue in 1907. By 1911,
the CA had
installed a 14’ X 12’ metal flag
on the roof of the building
[Flag1].
When The Commercial Appeal
relocated to 495 Union in the
1930s to the old Ford Motor
Plant, it also relocated the
flag to the roof of that
building.
When Memphis Publishing Company
moved The Commercial Appeal and
the Memphis Press-Scimitar into
the current building in 1977 and
tore down the old building, the
flag was donated to the Memphis
Park Commission to be placed on
the roof of the Press Box at the
stadium
(only west side at that
time),
which had been renamed
from Memphis Memorial Stadium to
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in
1975 or 1976 (but that is
another story). Memphis
Publishing Company placed two
conditions on the donation:
1) the City would provide all
utilities, structural and
preventive maintenance for the
flag,
2) the flag will be lighted
every night of the year.
*One time in 1984 when I was
Deputy Director of the Memphis
Park Commission, I received a
late night call from a
representative at Memphis
Publishing informing me that the
flag was not lighted. When I had
stadium management check it out
the next day, it was not lighted
due a tripped breaker. All was
well by that evening.
Most people that drive by the
stadium at night and see the
lighted flag or most people that
attend the games do not realize
the “journey” of the flag –
three buildings and three roofs
in over 100 years! The people
that I tell this unusual story
to during my “Memphis” talks do
not realize its entire origin
either, and are pleasantly
surprised.
At last year’s Liberty Bowl
game, I took the opportunity
from “spotting tackles on the
stat crew” to venture up
(pre-game) to the flag via the
fourth floor for pictures and
measurements. It is an easy and
safe access. Here are some more
amazing facts:
- The flag is two pieces of
sheet metal welded together, cut
and shaped in a furl at the
bottom right hand corner.
- The flag is approximately
(H)14’3” X (W)12’2”
- The flag as 277 light bulbs –
Red (112), White (120) and Blue
(45).
- The red and white stripes are
between 8” and 9” wide
- The lights bulbs are TCP
#8A03RD, Model #CCDC03, 120
volts
- The platform is 9’10” high and
34” wide with a safety rail
Here is the best stat:
There are only 45 stars
in the blue field, as the flag
is a pre-1907 model, and the USA
only had 45 states in the Union
then (Hawaii-1959, Alaska-1959,
Arizona-1912, New Mexico-1912
and Oklahoma-1907).
So, the flag that flies high
over our Liberty Bowl (@ 18
stories) and high over our city
for the past 100 years has only
45 stars. I bet you not too many
people realize that fact!
Also, how many things in our
public sector are over one
hundred years old, with moving
parts, with electricity and are
still working?
Next “Detour”:
I AM A MAN
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