Discover the 100-year history of Kansas City’s ‘Heart of America’ slogan

Kansas City’s connection to the heart symbol and “Heart of America” slogan dates back to 1914, when a local lawyer coined the phrase for a convention. From that moment through the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory, the city has cycled through slogans and logos — but keeps coming back to the heart, including in the upcoming World Cup.

FULL STORY: This KCQ doesn’t miss a beat: Kansas City has shown its heart for more than 100 years

Here are key takeaways:

• Local lawyer Edward J. Shannahan created “The Heart of America” in August 1914 while handling publicity for the national convention of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles in Kansas City. Before that, the city’s nickname was “The City on the Kaw.”

• The Kansas City Council made “Heart of America” the city’s official slogan on March 15, 1915, passing the resolution unanimously.

• The KC heart logo popularized by Charlie Hustle, a local T-shirt maker, was adopted by the Kansas City Area Development Council for a branding campaign in November 2019. The 1942 Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues had worn a jersey with a nearly identical image decades earlier.

• The city has tried several replacement slogans over the past 25 years, including “A Flavor All Its Own,” “No Mountain. No Beach. No Problem” and “Kansas City: New Discoveries Daily.” Reactions were mixed. Kansas City Councilwoman Bonnie Sue Cooper called one 2005 logo “a bunch of chicken scratchings.”

• Travis Kelce invoked the phrase at the Chiefs’ 2020 Super Bowl championship rally in front of Union Station, telling the crowd they represent “right here in the heart of America.”

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.