Some say it’s time to redesign the Illinois state flag

[March 28, 2023]  By Zeta Cross | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – Illinois may be getting a new state flag under a proposal by state Sen. Doris Turner.

The flag of the city of Chicago is so popular that people get the design tattooed on their arms. In contrast, the Illinois state flag, designed in 1915, is a hodgepodge of images taken from the state seal. Advocates are thinking it is high time for a state flag redesign. Senate Bill 1818, proposed by Turner, D-Springfield, aims to do just that.

Chicago’s flag features four six-pointed red stars in a line on a white background, banded by two light blue horizontal bars. The design is simple, memorable and impactful, even if most people don’t know that the stars stand for the establishment of Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and Century of Progress Exposition of 1933–34.

“The flag establishes a graphic version of a place that people care about,” Hannah Higgins, professor of art history at the University of Illinois Chicago, told The Center Square.

The Illinois state flag, on the other hand, says very little about Illinois. There is a huge eagle on a rock, a windblown banner with the state motto “State Sovereignty, National Union,” sunrise over Lake Michigan, a shield covered in stars and stripes and a field of sprouting plants.

“I’ve never seen anyone with the flag of Illinois tattooed on their arm. It’s too complex. And it doesn’t really say anything about the state of Illinois. It’s not specific to Illinois in any way,” Higgins said.

In the 1960s, Chief Petty Officer Bruce McDaniel petitioned to have the word “Illinois” added to the state flag. He told legislators that many of the people he served with during the Vietnam War did not recognize the flag as the emblem of Illinois.

“The fact that they had to add the word ‘Illinois’ to the flag so that people would know what state it was … for me, that was the moment when somebody should have said, ‘Hey, let’s redesign this,’” Higgins said.

Turner’s bill, which passed the senate on March 23 on a vote of 39 to 16, will put together a committee to develop a list of historic colors and symbolic elements that will inspire designers to create a new flag. The measure is now in the House.

Higgins said a bipartisan process of creating a new state flag may reawaken civic pride. A good design will transcend political partisanship and bridge Illinois’ upstate/downstate divide.

“A project to design a new Illinois state flag should really turn a lot of young people on to thinking about what it means to be part of a state,” Higgins said.

Higgins is an expert in national flags and is writing a book on the American flag. The best state flags are simple and evocative, Higgins said.

“A good flag creates a sense of belonging that is region-specific,” she said. When the Illinois state flag is flying and it is viewed from a distance, it is difficult to distinguish the images.

Texas, for example, could have put a longhorn, a cactus, a cowboy and the Alamo on the state flag. Instead, the classic Lone Star by itself makes the flag iconic. In the same way, the New Mexico flag with its ancient red Zia sun symbol on the brilliant gold background is bold and powerful.

“Both flags tap into aspects of state history that matter a great deal,” Higgins said.