SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Flags engender such loyalty and pride, they often become very personal emblems with quirky or quaint nicknames: Old Glory, Union Jack, Maple Leaf — or SOB.
That would be (state) “Seal on a Bedsheet,” the derisive moniker with which some have burdened the Illinois state flag, a gleaming white banner emblazoned with the state’s bald eagle-themed emblem.
Some forward-looking lawmakers set up a contest to design a new flag and put it to a vote. In a landslide, a winner was chosen.
And it’s the current flag.
Of nearly 385,000 votes cast, the existing bunting received 43% — more tallies than the next six finalists combined.
“Some may call it an SOB and the vexillogical community (flag experts) may hate it, but people overwhelmingly prefer our current state flag,” said Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose archivist chairs the Illinois Flag Commission. Its members were chosen by the governor, legislative leaders and state education and museum administrators.
Created in 1915, the current emblem is a white field featuring the state seal adopted in 1868: A bald eagle before a rising sun, a shield in its talons and in its beak, a banner expressing the Prairie State’s dual tenets: “State Sovereignty, National Union.” In 1970, “Illinois” in block letters was added at the bottom.
Last fall, residents were invited to submit their vision for a new standard. More than 4,800 did — most of them serious. The commission whittled it down to 10 finalists, then added the current 1915 flag, and banners created for the state’s 1918 Centennial and 1968 Sesquicentennial.
“What I tried to convey to people was, this is not a process that is mandating a new flag. We’re going to test the waters and see what people say, so I respect those results,” said Rep. Kam Buckner, who sponsored the law creating the flag inquiry.
But the Chicago Democrat was quick to point out that while the existing flag received nearly 166,000 votes, there were 219,000 votes for new colors. “There were more people who thought that maybe we should move in a new direction,” said Buckner, who found the contest’s runner-up — a star-haloed sun rising above converging green stripes of prairie — to be “super cool.”
It’s not over just yet. The General Assembly gets the final say. However, Buckner doubts there will be an appetite to change course given the overwhelming vote for the status quo.
Regardless of the outcome, Buckner said the contest, which drew entries from various regions of the state and from young and old, accomplished part of his goal: “Ginning up some pride about Illinois.”
“This reminded me that people really care about where they live, and care about the way we present ourselves to others,” Buckner said.
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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Buckner’s name.