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How Chicago Kept it SimpleChicagoans are proud of their city, and they're proud of their flag. It is done simply and done well. It boasts three horizontal stripes with four six-pointed stars. It eschews text and seals and sticks to the rule of only three colors. To see how Chicagoans feel about their flag, just look at all the art incorporating it into images of the Windy City skyline. It's inspired tattoos and art of all kinds. In the process, its united a city. That's what good design does.
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What it Represents
From Wikipedia:
StripesThe three white background areas of the flag represent, from top to bottom, the North, West and South sides of the city. The top blue stripe represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River. The bottom blue stripe represents the South Branch of the river and the "Great Canal", over the Chicago Portage.[2] The lighter blue on the flag is variously called, sky blue,[3] and pale blue,[4] in a 1917 article of a speech by Rice, it was called "the color of water".[5]
StarsThere are four red six-pointed stars on the center white stripe, from left to right (although this is not the order in which they were added to the flag).
Six-pointed stars are used because five-pointed stars represent sovereign states, and because the star as designed was not found on any other known flags as of 1917.
StripesThe three white background areas of the flag represent, from top to bottom, the North, West and South sides of the city. The top blue stripe represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River. The bottom blue stripe represents the South Branch of the river and the "Great Canal", over the Chicago Portage.[2] The lighter blue on the flag is variously called, sky blue,[3] and pale blue,[4] in a 1917 article of a speech by Rice, it was called "the color of water".[5]
StarsThere are four red six-pointed stars on the center white stripe, from left to right (although this is not the order in which they were added to the flag).
- The first star represents Fort Dearborn. It was added to the flag in 1939. Its six points symbolize transportation, labor, commerce, finance, populousness, and salubrity.[2]
- The second star stands for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and is original to the 1917 design of the flag. Its six points represent the virtues of religion, education, aesthetics, justice, beneficence, and civic pride.[2]
- The third star symbolizes the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and is original to the 1917 design. Its six points stand for political entities Chicago has belonged to and the flags that have flown over the area: France 1693, Great Britain 1763, Virginia 1778, the Northwest Territory 1789, Indiana Territory 1802, and Illinois (territory 1809, and state 1818).[2]
- The fourth star represents the Century of Progress Exposition (1933–1934), and was added in 1933. Its points refer to bragging rights: the United States' 2nd Largest City (became 3rd largest in 1990 census when passed by Los Angeles), Chicago's Latin Motto (Urbs in horto – City in a garden), Chicago's "I Will" Motto, the Great Central Marketplace, Wonder City, and Convention City.[2]
Six-pointed stars are used because five-pointed stars represent sovereign states, and because the star as designed was not found on any other known flags as of 1917.