* Background is here if you need it. With a hat-tip to a commenter, WGN’s B-Team wasn’t all that overwhelmed with the Illinois state flag redesign contest nominees…

Oof.

* They didn’t appear to notice however that the state’s 1918 Centennial Flag is eligible…

       

17 Comments - Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 12:05 pm: For the love of Pete keep the old flag. This is turning into a “New Coke” moment. - @misterjayem - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 12:15 pm: Centennial flag is head and shoulders above the others, imho. – MrJM - fs - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 12:18 pm: “None of the above” should be an option - Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 12:27 pm: ===should be an option== If you’ve been paying even the least bit of attention, you’d know that it is an option. - Montrose - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:06 pm: It had not registered with me the centennial flag is an option. That is easily my top choice. - Excitable Boy - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:08 pm: I’m eagerly awaiting the minutes from the Dec. 9th meeting so we can see who is to blame for these choices. https://www.ilsos.gov/special/IFC/home.html - H-W - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:12 pm: That clip is funny. I guess Chicago folks are little less Midwestern in terms of “holding their tongues.” /s - Near Westside - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:20 pm: The choices are underwhelming. With the exception of the Abe Lincoln design, these flags do not give anything “Illinois” - Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:41 pm: Newer isn’t always better. The Centennial flag is a little cold and abstract: it’s main point is that Illinois was the 21st state admitted to the Union - that’s what all the stars are for. That’s not enough to inspire me, it says nothing about who we are and what our land is like. The Chicago flag is brilliant in that the blue color reflects the lake, and each point on the stars represents a historic event. The seal is not all that great at this idea of representation either, but it’s at least an attempt. The iconography on these replacement efforts is just amateurish and empty. We are more than this. - Just Thoughts - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 1:53 pm: Centennial flag is definitely among the best of these. I think 2 or 3 of the others would be fine (and certainly better than the current one), but with nearly 5,000 entries, I just can’t imagine there were no better options. - Lakeview Looker - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 2:22 pm: Also not especially impressed with any of the new submissions. I don’t like the idea of tying the state’s identity to one person (no matter how positive an impact they had). But the other ones are just uninspired. Curious to see if they release any other submissions for the public to peruse (but not vote on). - SouthSidePride - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 2:26 pm: I like some of these options. I think they’re all mostly better than our current flag. The one with the I in the middle is sweet - Old Shepherd - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 2:59 pm: In my opinion, the State of Tennessee has the perfect state flag. The circular three-star logo looks great on a hat, shirt, or bumper sticker. It’s instantly recognizable, and it has meaning. When you are in Tennessee, you see the logo everywhere because, I presume, people are proud of it and proud of their state. We need something like that, but I don’t see it in these designs. - JS Mill - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 4:39 pm: First, I love both the B and A WGN teams. They make me laugh and get my day pf to a good start. It is just about the only news I watch anymore. To the flags, none of them inspire me but the red white and blue flag with the I and the blue and white flag (lower right in the first group they show) are the two I like best. - Stones - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 5:20 pm: Admittedly I’m an outsider looking in but I don’t see why Illinois is considering a change of their state flag. The current flag looks fine to me and it seems like there are so many more pressing issues for the state to address. Just my .02 - Excitable Boy - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 6:23 pm: - so many more pressing issues for the state to address. - There are always more pressing issues in every political body in the world other than something that political body happens to be working on at any given time. There may be arguments against changing a flag but that ain’t one of them. - Tired Teacher - Thursday, Dec 12, 24 @ 9:02 pm: I wish folks could just pick what they like, without having to drag down the others . I like the sesquicentennial flag best; the centennial flag a close second. TrackBack URI Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.