Flag and seal of Illinois
{{short description|U.S. state flag and seal}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox flag
| Name = State of Illinois
| Article =
| Image = Flag of Illinois.svg
| Nickname =
| Use = 110000
| Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}}{{FIAV|normal}}{{FIAV|Mirror}}
| Proportion = 3:5
| Adoption = {{start date and age|1915|7|6}} (initial version) {{start date and age|1969|9|17}} (alteration)
| Design = A state seal above the word Illinois in blue on a white field.
| Designer = Sharon Tyndale
}}
{{Infobox coat of arms
|name = Great Seal of the State of Illinois
|image = Seal of Illinois.svg
|image_width = 200
|middle =
|middle_width =
|g
|lesser =
|lesser_width =
|lesser_caption =
|image2 =
|image2_width =
|image2_caption =
|image3 =
|image3_width =
|image3_caption =
|armiger = State of Illinois
|year_adopted = 1868
|crest =
|torse =
|shield =
|supporters = 7
|compartment =
|motto = "State Sovereignty, National Union"
|orders =
|other_elements =
|earlier_versions =
|use =
}}
File:Illinois state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg (illustrated, 1876)]]
The Great Seal of the State of Illinois is the official emblem of the U.S. state of Illinois, and signifies the official nature of a document produced by the state. The present seal was designed and proposed in 1868 and officially adopted in 1869. It depicts in profile a bald eagle perched on a rock with wings uplifted and holding a shield, with a banner in its beak and sunrise over water in the background. It replaced an earlier seal that was almost the same as the Great Seal of the United States, adopted when Illinois became a state in 1818.
The flag of the state of Illinois bearing the central elements of the seal on a white field was adopted in 1915, and the word Illinois was added to the flag in 1970. In a 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association, the flag of Illinois was ranked 49th out of 72 different flags of states and territories of the U.S. and Canada.{{cite web |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/622278/documents/Raven_v08_2001_p011-038_1571982705.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA6MYUE6DNNNCCDT4J&Expires=1668868628&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DRaven_v08_2001_p011-038.pdf&Signature=txGg1fem7jDXSHvYFnrg%2FfNESZc%3D |title=The Great NAVA Flag Survey of 2001 |website=North American Vexillological Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119143213/https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/622278/documents/Raven_v08_2001_p011-038_1571982705.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA6MYUE6DNNNCCDT4J&Expires=1668868628&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DRaven_v08_2001_p011-038.pdf&Signature=txGg1fem7jDXSHvYFnrg%2FfNESZc%3D |archive-date=2022-11-19 |url-status=dead}}
Design
The current flag depicts the Great Seal of Illinois, which was originally designed in 1819 and emulated the Great Seal of the United States. In the eagle's beak there is a banner with the state motto, "State Sovereignty, National Union." The dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, represent the year Illinois became a state and the year in which the Great Seal was redesigned by Sharon Tyndale. Although "State Sovereignty" comes first in the motto, "State" is at the bottom and "Sovereignty" is upside-down.{{cite web| url=https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/About/StateSeal.aspx| title=Seal of the State of Illinois| website=State of Illinois| access-date=2021-02-13| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210010625/http://www.sos.state.il.us/general/seal.html| archive-date=February 10, 2012}}
It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.
Seal history
The first Great Seal of the State of Illinois was adopted in 1819 by the first Illinois General Assembly. The first law authorizing the Great Seal required the secretary of state of Illinois to procure and keep the seal.{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/illinoisknowyour00bart| title=Illinois: know your state: [a text workbook]| first1=Mabel Lane| last1=Bartlett| author2=John E. Grinnell| year=1967| page=ii| publisher=Southern Illinois University Press| location=Carbondale| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927234521/https://archive.org/details/illinoisknowyour00bart| archive-date=2016-09-27}} The first seal engraved was essentially a copy of the Great Seal of the United States. It was used until 1839, when it was recut. The seal designed in 1839 became the Second Great Seal.
Illinois Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale spearheaded the drive to create a third state seal for Illinois. In 1867, he asked State Senator Allen C. Fuller to introduce legislation requiring a new seal, and suggested to Fuller that the words of the state motto be reversed, from "State Sovereignty, National Union", to "National Union, State Sovereignty". However, the bill passed by the legislature on March 7, 1867, kept the original wording. Despite declining his suggestion, the legislature nonetheless entrusted Tyndale with designing the new seal. And Tyndale managed to (literally) twist the legislature's intent; he kept the words in the correct order on the banner, but the banner twists, so the word "Sovereignty" is upside down, arguably making it less readable.
Tyndale's seal features a bald eagle perched on a rock carrying a shield in its talons and a banner with the state motto in its beak. Thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the shield represent the original thirteen states of the Union. The date August 26, 1818, when Illinois's first constitution was adopted in Kaskaskia, appears along the bottom arc of the circle, and 1818, the year of statehood, displays on the seal below 1868, the year the current seal was adopted. This basic design has survived through several minor modifications since it was first conceived. The Illinois secretary of state is still the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.
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Flag history
=Initial adoption, 1915=
{{Gallery|align=center|height=180|width=260
|File:Flag of Illinois (1915-1969).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Illinois's flag from 1915 to 1968
|File:Ella Park Lawerence and the Illinois State Flag.jpg|Ella Park Lawrence holds the original Illinois state flag, {{Circa|1915}}.
|File:Harry S. New & Illinois flag, 2-26-24 LCCN2016848713.jpg|Presentation of the state flag, February 26, 1924.
}}
During her time as state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1912, Ella Park Lawrence began a campaign to have Illinois adopt a state flag.{{cite web| url=http://www.thezephyr.com/illflag002.htm| title=Park Lawrence, Mother of the Illinois Flag| first=Barbara| last=Schock| date=May 12, 2007| website=The Zephyr | url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310092348/http://www.thezephyr.com/illflag002.htm| archive-date=2012-03-10}} She was unsuccessful during her time as state regent, but continued to lobby members of the Illinois General Assembly to adopt a state flag as a member of the Rockford chapter of the DAR. On April 1, 1914, Lawrence sent a letter to every Illinois chapter of the DAR announcing a contest to design an Illinois state flag, with the winner receiving a prize of $25, {{inflation|US|25|1914|fmt=eq}}.{{inflation/fn|US}} Thirty-five designs were submitted in response to this contest.
The contest was judged by a panel chaired by Lewis Stevenson, Illinois Secretary of State. They selected the design of Lucy Derwent. The flag became the official state banner on July 6, 1915, following its passage in the Illinois State House and Senate. Governor Edward F. Dunne did not sign the bill, but he did not veto it.{{cite web| website=Secretary of State of Illinois| title=Illinois Handbook of Government: 2007–2008| page=135| date=2007-03-31| url=http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/handbook/0708handbook.pdf| access-date= 2007-09-14| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203122651/http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/handbook/0708handbook.pdf| archive-date=2007-12-03}}
=1969 alterations=
File:Illinois Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg
In the 1960s, Chief Petty Officer Bruce McDaniel petitioned to have the name of the state added to the flag. He noted that many of the people with whom he served during the Vietnam War did not recognize the banner. Governor Richard B. Ogilvie signed the addition to the flag into law on September 17, 1969, and the new flag, designed by Sanford (Florence) Hutchinson, became official on July 1, 1970.{{cite web| url=http://www.illinois.gov/facts/stateflag.cfm| website=Illinois Facts| title=Official State Flag| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628043205/http://www.illinois.gov/facts/stateflag.cfm| archive-date=2010-06-28}}
=Anniversary flags=
==Illinois Centennial design==
{{Gallery|align=left|height=150|width=220
|File:Illinois Centennial Flag.svg|Illinois Centennial flag by Wallace Rice
}}
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File:Illinois Rotunda Eagles.jpg.{{Cite web |title=Illinois Statehouse - Fourth Floor |url=http://www.ilstatehouse.com/4th_floor.htm |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=www.ilstatehouse.com}}]]
For Illinois's first 100 years of statehood in 1918, Wallace Rice, who designed Chicago's flag, designed a centennial flag for the state. It had three horizontal bands of equal width alternating white, blue, white. It was charged with 21 stars along the edge of the hoist. There were 10 blue stars in the upper white band and 10 in the lower white band, representing the 10 northern and 10 southern states at the time of Illinois' statehood in 1818. The center blue band had one large, white star for the state of Illinois itself.{{cite web| url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-il100.html| title=Illinois Anniversary Flags (U.S.)| website=Flags of the World| access-date=2021-02-13| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019140430/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-il100.html| archive-date=2012-10-19}}
==Illinois Sesquicentennial design==
{{Gallery|align=left|height=150|width=220
|File:Illinois Sesquicentennial Flag.svg|Illinois Sesquicentennial flag
}}
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To mark Illinois' 150th anniversary of statehood in 1968, a sesquicentennial flag was designed for the state. The flag was dark blue, with a stylised white letter "I" defaced with a red map of Illinois in the center, which was surrounded by a circle of twenty white five-pointed stars, with an additional twenty-first star (larger than the others) set outside the circle to the upper-right.{{cite web |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-il100.html#150 |title=Illinois Anniversary Flags: Sesquicentennial flag |author=Valentin Poposki |date=27 January 2009 |work=Flags of the World |access-date=6 May 2023}}
==Illinois Bicentennial design==
{{Gallery|align=left|height=150|width=220
|File:Illinois Bicentennial Flag.gif|Illinois Bicentennial flag
}}
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However, on January 12, 2017, the state unveiled a logo in preparation for the state's bicentennial the following year. The logo, designed by Ben Olsen, features a blue silhouette of the state with the word ILLINOIS above. In the center of the silhouette, is a sunburst effect with the number 200 in gold. Along the right side is the word Bicentennial also in gold from bottom to top and beneath are the dates 1818 and 2018. This is all surrounded by 21 gold stars denoting Illinois position as the twenty-first state. Executive Director of the Bicentennial Office, Stewart Layne, added, "The sunburst in the middle of the state outline portrays the impact Illinois has made on the country and the world over the past two centuries and the bright future we aspire to for the next 200 years."{{cite news| title=Illinois unveils new logo for a big birthday| url=https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2017/01/12/illinois-unveils-new-logo-for-a-big-birthday.html| date=January 12, 2017| newspaper=Chicago Business Journal| last=Lazare| first=Lewis| access-date=2021-02-13}}{{cite news| title=Illinois prepares to celebrate 200 years with new state logo| url=https://www.sj-r.com/news/20170112/illinois-prepares-to-celebrate-200-years-with-new-state-logo| first=Kiannah| last=Sepeda-Miller| agency=Associated Press| newspaper=The State Journal-Register| location=Springfield| date=January 12, 2017| access-date=2021-02-13}} The "Illinois Bicentennial Flag Raising Ceremony" took place on December 4, 2017 at the Skokie Village Hall in Cook County.{{cite web |last1=Wyatt |first1=Rick |title=Illinois Anniversary Flags (U.S.) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-il100.html |website=Flags of the World |publisher=FOTW |access-date=November 14, 2024 |date=January 2018}}
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=2025 redesign contest=
In March 2023, the Illinois Senate approved the creation of the Illinois Flag Commission, tasked with exploring and developing a new design for the state flag.{{cite news| title=Senate Approves Commission to Explore New Illinois State Flag| url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/illinois-new-flag-senate-commission-approved/3102687/| first=James| last=Neveau| newspaper=NBC Chicago| location=Chicago| date=March 23, 2023| access-date=2023-03-27}} By May 2023, the Illinois House passed the same bill.IN May 2023, the Illinois house approved the same bill, and in August 2023, Governor Pritzker signed the bill into law. Lawmakers stated that the General Assembly could decide on the new flag within the coming years. In August 2024, it was announced that a contest to redesign the flag would begin, with submissions opening on September 3, 2024 and closing on October 18, 2024.{{Cite web |last=Koval |first=Andy |date=28 August 2024 |title=Illinois opens contest to redesign state flag |url=https://wgntv.com/news/illinois/illinois-opens-contest-to-redesign-state-flag/ |access-date=28 August 2024 |website=WGN TV News}} The Commission selected ten designs, which were published on December 10 and put to an online public vote in January and February 2025.{{Cite web |last=Illinois Flag Commission (Illinois Office of the Secretary of State) |title=New State Flag Design Contest |url=https://www.ilsos.gov/special/IFC/home.html |access-date=September 3, 2024}}{{Cite web |last=Illinois Flag Commission (Illinois Office of the Secretary of State) |date=December 10, 2024 |title=TOP 10 FINALISTS – New State Flag Design Contest |url=https://www.ilsos.gov/special/IFC/10finalists.pdf }} In addition to the new designs, the public also had the option to vote for three historic Illinois flags—the Centennial flag, the Sesquicentennial flag, and the current state flag.{{Cite web |last=Ackerman |first=Tom |date= October 31, 2024 |title=Nearly 5,000 designs submitted for new Illinois state flag. What happens next? |url=https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/state/2024/10/31/nearly-5000-designs-submitted-for-new-illinois-state-flag/75920867007/|newspaper=Springfield State Journal-Register}} The state's General Assembly will make the final decision regardless of the voting results.
On March 6, 2025, the Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced on social media the results of the flag vote. The current flag received 43% of the votes (165,602 votes), while 57% of the votes were distributed among the remaining 12 designs, none of which exceeded 10%. Giannoulias commented: "Some may call it an SOB—a seal on a bedsheet—and the vexillological community may hate it, but people overwhelmingly prefer our current state flag." These results will be sent to the Illinois General Assembly, and they will make the final decision.{{cite web |last1=Giannoulias |first1=Alexi |title=Current State Flag is Decisive Winner in Flag Redesign Contest |url=https://www.ilsos.gov/news/2025/march/250306d1.pdf |website=Illinois Secretary of State |publisher=Illinois Secretary of State |access-date=7 March 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://wgntv.com/news/illinois/illinois-state-flag-redesign-general-assembly/ |title=Illinois could still get a new flag despite overwhelming vote for current design - Illinois' General Assembly will decide next month whether to adopt a new flag or keep with the current design |author=Jared Thomas, B.J. Lutz |date=7 March 2025 |work=WGN-TV |access-date=15 March 2025}}
| class="wikitable" style:left; margin-left:1em; text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" |Submission number
! scope="col" |Flag in use ! scope="col" |#2246{{efn|name=|Designed by Scott Clanin and Colleen Hayes{{cite web |url=https://www.clanincreative.com/portfolio-items/illinois-state-flag-2246/ |title=Our Flag Design Named a Top 10 Finalist in the Illinois Flag Redesign Contest |author= |date= |work=Clanin Creative |access-date=9 February 2025}}}} ! scope="col" |#3679 ! scope="col" |#896{{efn|name=|Designed by Dean Thomas{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160582400727761&id=63216802760 |title=This finalist in the Illinois State Flag design contest is my entry. |author=Dean Thomas |date=13 December 2024 |work= |access-date=9 February 2025}}}} ! scope="col" |#4129 ! scope="col" |#4220 ! scope="col" |#4321{{efn|name=|Designed by Spresalynn Tipps and Johna Kinney{{cite web |url=https://www.wsiu.org/state-of-illinois/2024-12-22/a-design-by-two-fairfield-high-school-students-is-a-finalist-for-illinois-new-state-flag |title=A design by two Fairfield High School students is a finalist for Illinois' new state flag |author=Brad Palmer |date=22 December 2024 |work=WSIU |access-date=9 February 2025}}}} |
|---|
| scope="col" | Flags
! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | File:Flag of Illinois 2025 redesign finalist (4220).jpg ! scope="col" | File:Flag of Illinois 2025 redesign finalist (4321).jpg |
| scope="row" | Number of Votes
| 165,602 | 32,898 | 29,476 | 26,559 | 25,653 | 21,981 | 18,574 |
| scope="row" | Vote %
| 43.14% | 8.57% | 7.68% | 6.92% | 6.68% | 5.73% | 4.84% |
| scope="col" | Submission number
! scope="col" | #2752 ! scope="col" | Centennial Flag ! scope="col" | #4669 ! scope="col" | #200 ! scope="col" | #3754 ! scope="col" colspan="2" |Sesquicentennial Flag |
| scope="col" | Flags
! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" | 100px ! scope="col" colspan="2" | 100px |
| scope="row" | Number of Votes
| 15,739 | 15,159 | 10,113 | 9,840 | 7,169 |colspan="2" | 5,096 |
| scope="row" | Vote %
| 4.10% | 3.95% | 2.63% | 2.56% | 1.87% |colspan="2" | 1.33% |
Government seals of Illinois
File:Seal of the Attorney General of Illinois.svg|Seal of the attorney general of Illinois
File:IDFPR circular logo.png|Seal of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
File:ISTHA Seal.JPG|Seal of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
See also
{{Portal|Illinois}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite web |url=http://www.illinois.gov/about/Pages/StateSeal.aspx |title=The Great Seal of the State of Illinois |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926235750/http://www.illinois.gov/about/Pages/StateSeal.aspx |archive-date=2014-09-26 |website=Illinois.gov}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.illinois.gov/facts/stateflag.cfm |title=Illinois State Flag |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628043205/http://www.illinois.gov/facts/stateflag.cfm |archive-date=2010-06-28 |website=Illinois.gov}}
- {{cite journal |last=Whitlock |first=Brand |title=Great Seal of Illinois: First Complete History of the State Symbol |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |date=January 1913 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=435–450}}
{{US_state_flags}}
{{US_state_seals}}
{{Illinois}}
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Category:Coats of arms with eagles
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Category:Coats of arms with sunrays
Category:Coats of arms with suns
Category:United States state flags
Category:United States state seals