Chicago City Flag

Title

Chicago City Flag

Artist

Chicago In Photographs

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Print

Description

Chicago - City Flag

Offer Design For City Flag; What It Means

Design for a Chicago flag, to be emblematic of a robust municipal ideal, was submitted to the city council yesterday by the Chicago municipal flag commission, appointed by Mayor Thompson eighteen months ago; the commission described the flag thus:

"Its uppermost stripe, of white, is eight inches broad; the second stripe, of blue, is nine inches; the central bar, of white, is eighteen inches, and the two lower stripes correspond with the uppermost two. Near the staff on the broad white stripe are two six-pointed red stars, fourteen inches tall."

"Viewed locally, the two blue stripes symbolize the Chicago River with its two branches, and the three white bars represent the three sides of the city. The red stars for the Chicago Fire and the Worlds fair, two great influences on the city's history. The six points in the first star stand for transportation, trade, finance, industry, populousness, and healthfulness; those in the second for religion, education, aesthetics, beneficence, justice, and civism."

"Considered nationally, the blue stripes stand for the mountain ranges which flank the plain of which Chicago is the center. The central white bar stands for this plain and the two outer white bars for the Atlantic and Pacific coasts."

The flag was designed by Wallace Rice (Chicago Poet) 2701 Best avenue. ~Chicago Tribune March 29, 1917

What I find interesting is that there are some minor differences between the original meanings of the flag elements with what is known today.

1. In 1917, the blue stripes represented the two branches of the Chicago River.  Today, it is said that the same two blue stripes represent Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River and the lower blue stripe represents the South Branch of the river and the "Great Canal", over the Chicago Portage.
2. There are differences behind the meanings of each of the six points of each of the two stars (Chicago Fire and the Worlds fair).
3. Two additional stars would be added after 1917 to represent Fort Dearborn and the Century of Progress Exposition.

All proceeds will be donated to Chicago's Cornerstone Community Outreach in honor of photographer Richard Cleis, 1965-2021.

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May 18th, 2021

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