Our Club certainly had fun with flags at our Monday night meeting at Maldaners Upstairs.
Dave Joens (image below), Illinois State Archives Director and Chairman of the Illinois Flag Commission, enhanced our knowledge about the Illinois State Flag. He presented to us the history of the state seal and the state flag and current efforts that are under way to possibly redesign the state flag. He also added in a brief look at the City of Chicago flag.
Regarding the state seal and the state flag, accompanied by pictures of the seals and flags, Dave highlighted the following:
Illinois has had three state seals since becoming a state. The current seal (image below) is on the Illinois State Flag.
• The first seal used in what is now Illinois was that of the Northwest Territory in 1788.
• The design of the second seal after Illinois gained statehood was a duplicate of the Great Seal of the United States and was used until 1839.
• Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale created the third seal, which remains in use today. Tyndale proposed reversing the words “State Sovereignty, National Union” in light of the Civil War. While the original wording remained, Tyndale did change the banner’s placement on the seal with “Sovereignty” reading upside down, decreasing its legibility.
The current state seal depicts an eagle with a banner in its beak with the State Motto, “State Sovereignty, National Union.” The words “Seal of the State of Illinois” and Aug. 26th 1818 (the date the first Illinois Constitution was signed) encircle the design.
Illinois has had two official state flags.
• Ella Park Lawrence, the State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), advocated for the creation of the first state flag, which included a contest among Illinois DAR chapters to design it. Lucy Derwent of the Rockford DAR chapter won the contest and the flag was adopted in July of 1915.
• In 1969 the state flag was modified to include the state's name so it would be more easily identifiable. This change was made at the request Bruce McDaniel of Waverly, who was serving in Vietnam. He was vexed by the identity of the Illinois state flag in his mess hall often being questioned because the flag didn’t carry the state name.
• At the request of Governor Ogilvie, to ensure uniformity of design and color of the state flag, Sanford Hutchinson of Greenfield designed a new flag adopted as the official Illinois State Flag in July of 1970. The design features a white field with the word “Illinois” and an exact replica of the state seal (images below).
A redesign of the Illinois State Flag is currently being considered by the Illinois Flag Commission. As chairman of the Illinois Flag Commission, Dave expressed the following about the Commission and the redesign process:
The 22 member Illinois Flag Commission was created in 2023 after legislation sponsored by State Senator Doris Turner and State Representative Kam Buckner was signed into law.
The Flag Commission will select 10 designs based on how they reflect the identity of Illinois. To date, the Flag Commission has received approximately 1,600 submissions.
13 flag designs will be submitted to the public for an online vote to determine a favorite.
The 13 designs are the 10 Flag Commission selected designs, the current state flag, the centennial flag from 1918, and the sesquicentennial flag from 1968. Voting will begin on January 1, 2025.
Finally, after the vote, the Flag Commission will report its findings to the Illinois General Assembly, whose members will vote on whether to adopt a new state flag or retain the current state flag design.
Our Club appreciates Dave cultivating our knowledge about our state seal and state flag. We also wish him and the Illinois Flag Commission success in navigating the flag design selection process and completing an insightful report about whether or not a new state flag should be adopted or the current state flag should remain in place.