* Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…
* WGN…
Of the nearly 385,000 votes that were received, over 165,000 — or 43 percent — were cast for the current Illinois state flag. In fact, it received more votes than the next five top designs combined.
“Some may call it an ‘SOB’ — a seal on a bedsheet — and the vexillological (study of flags) community may hate it, but people overwhelmingly prefer our current state flag,” Giannoulias said in a news release. “Thank you to everyone who made their voice heard on the future of this important symbol of state pride.”
The Illinois Flag Commission will prepare a report detailing its findings and recommendations to the state’s General Assembly by April 1. Lawmakers will then vote on whether to adopt a new state flag, return to a previous iteration, or keep the current one.
* The voting breakdown…
Thoughts?
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:16 am:
My choice came in 6th.
2 and 5 look like labels on gluten-free food.
Then again, I’m a big Terry Redlin fan so what do I know.
- ItsMillerTime - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:17 am:
That this was a complete waste of time. Feels like the committee picked the most boring designs on purpose to get this result. but to be fair stuff like this is subjective. But I feel there were way better design submissions that were rejected.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:21 am:
Also, in agreement with ItsMillerTime, in a decade or two when this comes up again, put me down in the couldn’t give a vermin’s behind column.
- Steve Rogers - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:32 am:
I’m wondering if people really, really like the current flag or if their vote was more of a None of the Above.
I would probably lean toward the latter.
- Capcitynewt - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:32 am:
How much money was wasted on this nonsense? THIS we have money for.
- From DaZoo - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:37 am:
Missed opportunity to try ranked choice voting. 43% voted to keep current flag but 57% voted to change.
- From DaZoo - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:37 am:
Missed opportunity to try ranked choice voting. 43% voted to keep current flag but 57% voted to change.
- Huh? - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:42 am:
The 57% thst wanted a change couldn’t decide on the preferred flag. As a result, the plurality choice is the existing flag.
- Bruce( no not him) - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:46 am:
So, when will the new flag be announced?
The vote is obviously wrong. Stop the steal. S/
- Benjamin - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:47 am:
Ugh. I’m really disappointed. The current flag is mediocre at best, and while none of the other choices were world beaters, there were several that were marked improvements.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:49 am:
Given the choices, this was the best outcome.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 8:52 am:
It’s MORE than 43%, because one of the flags is basically the current flag with a couple of stripes added on the sides (I actually prefer that one a bit, but its inclusion felt more like a way to peel off votes from the current flag). And it’s inconceivable that if there was a second round of voting with “ranked choice” that you wouldn’t get the mere 5% or so of the undecideds or other flag supporters opting for the current one.
Our long state nightmare is (hopefully) over
- Perrid - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:00 am:
Status quo bias.
- ;) - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:10 am:
Keep the flag. This was a silly exercise and waste of time and resources to begin with.
- That Guy - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:12 am:
I feel like if no flag got over 50%, this should have gone into a run off with the top two.
Over 50% of the population wanted a change, it’s just that there were so many options that obviously none of the changed flags would beat out the single option that had the flag remain the same.
This was poorly run.
- I-55 Fanatic - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:15 am:
As an ardent supporter of changing state flags generally, I am still not over how uninspired the committee’s choices were. This whole ordeal was a masterclass in half-baked committee work.
- Groundhog Day - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:28 am:
a great example of garbage in–garbage out. The choices were not inspiring.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:30 am:
I’m in favor of keeping the current flag so glad to see this result. The contest was fun and I doubt cost very much. I think it achieved its main purpose of keeping Giannoulias’s name in the news.
- SouthLoopGuy - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:35 am:
What a waste of everyone’s time. They shouldn’t have let people vote on the current flag. All it did was serve to divide the rest of the votes up.
Not to mention some of the ten chosen to vote on were absolutely dreadful. Too avant garde or too amateurish.
I liked #3679 quite a bit, but the others? Meh.
- Jibba - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:38 am:
Very happy with the result, especially given the competition. The problem with almost all flag redesigns is that they look like computer-generated icons and glyphs, rather than something that an artist touched. That is intentional, of course, but lifeless.
- Aaron B - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:40 am:
It seems like there should have been more than 384k votes in a state with 12.7 million population. Especially considering that you could vote every day for over a month. I’m fine with keeping the old flag but I was warming up to the idea of having a new flag too. It definitely would have been nice if they used rank choice voting for this.
- Northsider - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 9:53 am:
My votes for the current flag were definitely “none of the above.”
- effillus - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:04 am:
Moot point, since we’re gonna be flying the Indiana state flag here in southeastern Illinois anyway, right?
- Thoughts... - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:18 am:
My thought….what a complete waste of tax payer money and time.
- H-W - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:19 am:
When you pit a dozen rookies up against a current player, you should not be surprised that the current player is drafted first. The real question for me is how would one or two rookies do up against a current player, rather than against a dozen rookies. That said, I came in third. Nice to know.
- Just Me 2 - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:36 am:
Have another round of voting for the top 3. Clearly a majority of the voters want something different.
- Tequila Mockingbird - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:41 am:
I didn’t get around to it but I wanted to submit a design that looked like an out turned empty pocket.
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:50 am:
Change is bad.
- Stopped by a train in Franklin Park - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 10:58 am:
A Majority didn’t vote to keep the current flag.
The current flag only got 43% in a unadvertised, online poll were *anyone* could vote multiple times.
Also, out of the 5000 flags submitted, the public could only *vote* on 10 choices. There needed to be more public input in the early stages and a more secure voting system for the top 10. Finally, there needed to be a runoff vote for the top 2.
The whole process disappointed me.
- Change the Flag - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:01 am:
As Illinois residents, we have known the current state flag our whole lives. Yet all of these things are remain true:
-Many other state flags have been adopted into sports jerseys, get flown outside of houses, and are adored by their residents. Texas and Colorado are prime examples of this.
-Illinois flag use is basically zero. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the Illinois flag flying outside a non-government entity. Not a single one.
-The current Illinois flag was not approved by 57% of those that voted despite being a 156 year-old incumbent.
-The city of Chicago’s flag demonstrates the benefits that can take place from good design that sums up a location’s identity.
I hope Illinois lawmakers will vote on to approve new stage flag given the outcome. This is not a waste of money at all. It’s an opportunity to bring people together and foster a new state identity. The results show we don’t have one and we need to change that.
- DuPage Saint - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:03 am:
This vote is an example of why we elect politicians for life. Once in you just keep them in. No change is fine
- The Drummer - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:12 am:
The “finalists” were not good. The “winner” is horribly mediocre, but that probably makes it the most appropriate choice. In fact, it reminds me of a quote from Futurama: “Don’t quote me regulations…I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the color of the book that regulation is in…we kept it gray.”
- Susan Delgado - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:15 am:
The comments here underestimate the appeal of the current flag. It’s gloriously cheesy, very uncool, and for Chicagoans of a certain age, it screams “Eagle Man.” Basically, the same reason mom jeans, Lisa Frank and PBR are popular. Sometimes its more fun to lean into bad design (especially when the alternatives are a bunch of try hards.)
- Occasionally Moderated - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:16 am:
A Boaty McBoatface crisis averted.
Please don’t ask the public to do this. Half of them are below average.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:24 am:
The process that was followed is not how people who are serious and thoughtful about government would have gone about designing new flag ideas and presenting new flag ideas to the public.
- TheSouthern - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:39 am:
Let’s not forget the coordinated effort amongst elected Republicans to ensure the flag remains the same citing a waste in taxpayer dollars and government efficiency. Frankly, I’m surprised other coalition groups didn’t rally behind a flag to ensure their choice was selected.
- SI Upper Chamber - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:40 am:
Classic Alexi to make the announcement without any communication to the Flag Commission. no notification to even the Chair of the group, Sen Turner. Alexi gotta have his clicks and likes.
- Oklahoma - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 11:50 am:
Let people vote with their wallets. Let an entrepreneurial vendor put some designs on some tshirts, sell them around the state, and see what catches on.
Isn’t that the end goal anyway?
- Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 12:09 pm:
Absent something like a Confederate symbol to remove, there was no real impetus for change here. If the need for a new state flag was more forcefully articulated and bought into by the public, we might have had a different result.
- Give Us Barrabbas - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 12:39 pm:
There’s still time for Mike Pence to do the right thing…
The entire project seemed like a social media promotion project for Alexi. Which tracks.
I voted to keep the existing. Truly, the rest of the candidates were amateurish and unremarkable for the most part.
- ModerateGOP - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 12:44 pm:
This was a pointless exercise in the first place. The current flag is perfectly fine.
- Politically_Illinois - Thursday, Mar 6, 25 @ 1:40 pm:
Hurray! All the other designs were not up to snuff in my opinion. I think a great counterpoint to the old TED vexillology talk is this video from Pre-Modernist on Youtube. He gives a great rebuttal to many of the points that are made by the American Vexillogical Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-IgG7iou94&t=4725s