Composition
The Illinois flag features a field of white charged with the state seal, centered.
Below the seal, the word “Illinois” is inscribed in blue.
Illinois
The original Illinois flag was adopted in 1915, designed by Lucy Derwent and submitted to a design contest held by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The flag featured elements from the state seal, but was not widely recognized. So Chief Petty Officer Bruce McDaniel of Waverly petitioned to have “Illinois” added to the flag.
Redesigned by Sanford Hutchinson of Greenfield, the new flag replicated the state seal and added the state name below.
This version was officially adopted July, 1970.
Iconography
eagle
liberty through strength and peace
sun & river
the Illinois River, natural beauty
motto
state sovereignty, federalism
Note: After the Civil War, Illinois Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale tried to change the motto to put “National Union” before “State Sovereignty.” Unable to do so, he flipped “Sovereignty” upside down to make it less readable.
1868 & 1818
the year Illinois gained statehood (1818), the year Illinois’ state seal was officially adopted (1868)
Coat of Arms
The Illinois coat of arms reflects the design of the state seal.
Two seals preceded the current one, with 1819 and 1839 versions very closely resembling the Great Seal of the United States.
In 1867, despite not gaining approval to change the state motto, Tyndale began his redesign of the state seal resulting in the version we know today.
Colors
The Illinois flag uses the same red, white, and blue as the U.S. national flag.
Illinois Executive Order 1970-2 outlines official color values for the flag, as specified here.
The hex values here are approximations.Values corresponding to imagery:Blue: shield’s chief, water, “Illinois”
Red: banner, shield’s stripes, eagle’s tongue
Gray: rock
Black: banner lettering, dates, eagle’s claws, outlines
Brown: eagle
Yellow: outer edge of shield, sun’s rays
Orange: sun, eagle’s beak and talons
Green: grass, laurel
White
#ffffff
Cable No. 70001 White
Pantone White
Blue
#002147
Cable No. 70075 Old Glory Blue
PMS 282c
Red
#bb133e
Cable No. 70180 Old Glory Red
PMS 193C
Gray
#d2b78c
Cable No. 70152 Nickel Gray
Black
#000000
Cable No. 70090 Midnight Black
Brown
#785a3c
Cable No. 70119 Brown
Yellow
#ffe60f
Cable No. 70068 Spanish Yellow
Orange
#ffb316
Cable No. 70069 Orange
Green
#3f863f
Cable No. 70064 Hunter Green
Construction
Illinois law does not specify dimensions for the flag, but it is often produced with a 3:5 proportion.
Per Executive Order 1970-2, the emblem plus the word “Illinois” should be 80% the width of the hoist.
The diameter of the emblem is not specified, but proportionally, the word “Illinois” should be 1/12 the emblem’s diameter.
The typeface for “Illinois” should be Craw Clarendon Modern or a similar serif.
Previous iteration
The Lucy Derwent version of the flag was used from 1915-1969 and featured selected imagery from the state seal.
Sources
- Howe, Randy. Flags of the Fifty States: Their Colorful Histories and Significance. Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press, 2002. Print.
- Mitchell, Henry. The State Arms of the Union. Boston: L. Prang & Co, 1876.
- State of Illinois Executive Order 1970-2, May 12, 1970.
- Illinois Handbook of Government: 2007-2008.
- The State of Illinois
- Great Seal of the United States - Wikipedia
- Flag and Seal of Illinois - Wikipedia