Flag of Chicago
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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
consists of two light blue horizontal bars, or stripes, on a field of white, each bar one-sixth the height of the full flag, and placed slightly less than one-sixth of the way from the top and bottom. Four bright red stars, with six sharp points each, are set side by side, close together, in the middle third of the flag's surface.


Symbolism


Bars

The three white background areas of the flag represent, from top to bottom, the North,
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
, and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
sides of the city. The top blue bar represents
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
and the North Branch of the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
. The bottom blue bar represents the South Branch of the river and the " Great Canal", over the Chicago Portage. The light blue of the flag's two bars is variously called
sky blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...
or pale blue; in a 1917 article of a speech by designer Wallace Rice, it was called "the color of water".


Stars

There are four red six-pointed stars on the center white bar. Six-pointed stars are used because
five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and si ...
s represent sovereign states and because the star as designed was found on no other known flags as of 1917. From the hoist outwards, the stars represent: * Original to the 1917 flag: This star stands for the
Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...
of 1871. Its six points symbolize transportation, labor, commerce, finance, populousness, and salubrity (health). * Original to the 1917 flag: This star symbolizes the
World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...
of 1893. Its six points represent the virtues of religion, education, aesthetics, justice, beneficence, and civic pride. * Added in 1933: This star represents the Century of Progress Exposition (1933–34). Its points refer to: Chicago's status as the United States' second largest city at the time of the star's addition (Chicago became third largest in a 1990 census when passed by
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
); Chicago's Latin motto, ' ("City in a garden"); Chicago's "I Will" motto; the Great Central Marketplace; Wonder City; and Convention City. * Added in 1939: Commemorates Fort Dearborn, and its six points stand for political entities the Chicago region has belonged to and the flags that have flown over the area:
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, 1693;
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
, 1763;
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, 1778; the
Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...
, 1789; Indiana Territory, 1802; and Illinois (
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...
, 1809, and
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
, since 1818). Additional stars have been proposed, with varying degrees of seriousness. The following reasons have been suggested for possible additions of a fifth star:


Fifth Star

* A fifth star could represent Chicago's contribution to the nuclear age (see Metallurgical Laboratory), an idea first suggested in a 1940s letter published by the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' and later championed by Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1960s. * In the 1980s, a star was proposed in honor of Harold Washington, the first African-American mayor of Chicago. * When Chicago was bidding to host the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, the Bid Committee proposed that a fifth star be added to the flag in commemoration, but the bid was won instead by
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil. * Anne Burke, Tim Shriver, and others have proposed adding a fifth star to commemorate the
Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...
, which were founded in Chicago. * Other sports-related suggestions include recognizing the
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
' dominance of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
in the 1990s and a proposal for a fifth star if the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
should ever win the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
, which did not happen between their long drought of series wins in 1908, up to
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. * The
Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street (Chicago) ...
has an ongoing exhibition where the public is encouraged to vote for a potential fifth star. * Chicago Mayor
Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...
suggested that Chicago's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
could warrant adding a fifth star to Chicago's flag.


Unlawful private use

Per the Municipal Code of Chicago, it is unlawful to use the flag, or any imitation or design thereof, except for the usual and customary purposes of decoration or display. Causing to be displayed on the flag, any letter, word, legend, or device not provided for in the Code is also prohibited. Violators are subject to fines between $5.00 and $25.00 for each offense. However, the United States Constitution, via its first and fourteenth amendments, prohibits this section from being enforced ('' Street v. New York'').


History


''Chicago Tribune'' contest

The issue of the city flag came into focus during the preparations for the Chicago World's Fair. In 1892, the ''Chicago Tribune'' offered a one-hundred-dollar prize for the best suggestion of a municipal color or combination of colors that would symbolize the city. 829 projects were submitted to the competition and the winner was a Danish architect who’d recently moved to Chicago, to design buildings for the World’s Fair, Alfred Råvad (who also used an Americanized spelling of his name, Roewad). Råvada's design proposed red and white as the city's colors and a symbol in the shape of a horizontal letter "Y", representing the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
, whose branches create this branching pattern. The Råvada design became only an unofficial flag and was never confirmed by any relevant resolution, but ultimately became used in the municipal device.


Wallace Rice's design

In 1915, Mayor William Hale Thompson appointed a municipal flag commission chaired by Alderman James A. Kearns. Among the commission members were wealthy industrialist Charles Deering and impressionist painter Lawton S. Parker. Parker asked lecturer and poet Wallace Rice to develop the rules for an open public competition for the best flag design. Over a thousand entries were received. The flag was adopted in 1917 after the design by Wallace Rice won a
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
sponsored competition. It initially had two stars until 1933, when a third was added. The four-star version has existed since 1939. The three sections of the white field and the two bars represent geographical features of the city, the stars symbolize historical events, and the points of the stars represent important virtues or concepts. The historic events represented by the stars are the establishment of Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the
World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...
of 1893, and Century of Progress Exposition of 1933–34. In 1928, Mayor William Hale Thompson proposed that the stars on Chicago's flag should be changed from six-pointed to five-pointed, as he felt five-pointed stars were more "American". Although the change was unanimously approved by City Council on February 15, 1928, the description of the new design never made it into the city's ordinance books. When the Council voted to add the third star to Chicago's flag in 1933, the vote ended any uncertainty on the shape of the stars by reconfirming them as six-pointed. The 318th Cavalry Regiment incorporated the flag into their insignia. In a 2004 review by the
North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith, and others. Its membership of 1,100+ comprises flag s ...
of 150 American city flags, the Chicago city flag was ranked second-best with a rating of 9.03 out of 10, behind only the flag of Washington, D.C.


Gallery

Chicago, from the City Flags series (N6) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP829258.jpg, Allen & Ginter
cigarette card Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible car ...
with a drawing of a false flag, issued at a time when the city had no flag. File:1917flag.jpg, Chicago flag of 1917 poster, with "I Will" motto. Kitty Kelly holding Flag of Chicago 201921.jpg, ''Kitty Kelly holding Flag of Chicago'' from the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', 1921. Note the ''two'' stars on the flag at the time. Unveiling of the flag of the Chicago Police Department, c. 1977.jpg, Unveiling of the flag of the
Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...
, c. 1977 Flag of Alliance-Française de Chicago students.svg, Flag of Alliance Française de Chicago students Burgee of Chicago Corinthian YC.svg, Burgee of the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club


See also

* Flag of Cook County, Illinois * Flag of Illinois


References


Further reading

* "Art and Architecture: How the Chicago Municipal Flag Came to be Chosen". '' Chicago Daily Tribune''. July 17, 1921. p. 21. * "City Gets New Flag Today with Third Star for 1933 Fair". ''Chicago Daily Tribune''. October 9, 1933. p. 7. * "Fort Dearborn Gets a Star on Chicago's Flag". ''Chicago Daily Tribune''. December 22, 1939. p. 18.


External links


NAVA city flag survey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago, Illinois, Flag of
Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
Flags of cities in Illinois Flags introduced in 1917 1917 establishments in Illinois Flags with blue, red and white Flags with stars Culture of Chicago