The flag of the state of Illinois consists of the seal of Illinois on a white background, with the word "Illinois" underneath the seal. The Great Seal of the State of Illinois is the official emblem of the state, and signifies the official nature of a document produced by the state of Illinois.
The current flag depicts the Great Seal of Illinois, which was originally designed in 1819 and emulated the Great Seal of the United States. In the eagle's beak there is a banner with the state motto, "State Sovereignty, National Union." The dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, represent the year Illinois became a state and the year in which the Great Seal was redesigned by Sharon Tyndale. Although "State Sovereignty" comes first in the motto, Illinois was victorious in the American Civil War on the Union side, fighting against state sovereignty, so Tyndale placed "State" at the bottom and "Sovereignty" upside-down.
In 1918, Wallace Rice submitted a flag for Illinois's centennial celebration. Rice is best known for designing the iconic flag of Chicago. His centennial flag has 21 stars, representing Illinois's entry to the Union as the 21st state, on a white and blue triband.
Centennial flag (1918)
Proposals for a new Flag of Illinois
IL Flag Proposal "Evan"
IL Flag Proposal "Andy Rash"
IL Flag Proposal "Jack Expo"
IL Flag Proposal "Sammy"
IL Flag Proposal "FlagFreak"
IL Flag Proposal "Graphicology"
IL Flag Proposal "konstantinpalailogos"
IL Flag Proposal "Tibbetts 1"
IL Flag Proposal "Tibbetts 1" modified by Ben Karnell
IL Flag Proposal "Tibbetts 2"
IL Flag Proposal "Usacelt"
IL Flag Proposal by Kermitdefrog
IL Flag Proposal "Jorge Maat Dávila"
IL Flag Proposal by Ed Mitchell of Bresslergroup, 2013
IL Flag Proposal "Bresslergroup" modified by Ben Karnell
Updated Illinois state flag proposal by Ed Mitchell. 2016.
IL Flag Proposal "BigRed618"
Illinois flag proposal by BigRed618, modified by Hans. Oct 2015.
Illinois State Flag Proposal No. 1 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 15 OCT 2014 at 1451hrs cst
Illinois flag proposal by Hans. Jul 2014. (details)
Illinois flag proposal by Hans. Single-star version. Oct 2015. (details)
IL Flag Proposal (21 "Chicago" stars, wheat stalk/arrow, UofI "I"; by Apollosrain
IL Flag Proposal: bodies of water, by Apollosrain
Illinois flag proposal by Achaley.
IL flag proposal "5thEye"
Illinois State Flag proposal No. 2 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 25 FEB 2016 at 0803 HRS CST.
IL Flag Proposal "David Morris"
IL Flag Proposal "NamedomRan"
IL Flag Proposal "Ingsocinnerparty 1"
IL Flag Proposal "Ingsocinnerparty 2"
IL Flag Proposal "MrThrowaway109"
IL Flag Proposal "bourbon_now"
Illinois New Flag by H. Tyrson
Land of Lincoln flag by Newresnow
"Rich Rice" color set as per state colors. In similar layout as the Centenial Rice flag. Design by Rotten Ali.
As Chicago but single star has 21 points to represent order of admission. Design by Rotten Ali.
Thin 5 point star apears in same place as the sun rise in the current flag. Blue vertical stripe nd stars stand as serif I for Illinois state - still in white bed sheet. Design by Rotten Ali.
Illinois flag proposed by Ken Morton. Inspired by the Illinois Centennial Flag, and building upon a design by "Hans".
Redesign of the Illinois centennial flag. In place of the 20 stars, there is a chevron pattern representing the shield and red ribbon from the state seal. By Dmitri McDonald, 2018.
Second Redesign by Moraisdethiago. Proposed green, Blue and Black for state colors - December 2018. (details)
Results of the Illinois contest of March 2019 on Facebook. Win for Ken Morton's design.
Few people from Illinois like the simple Morton design - they wanted more & lots liked the deer. Returning option of combo design.
Symbolism
Local flags
A number of proposed designs take elements from two local flags: the municipal flags of Chicago and Springfield. Both happened to be designed by men named Wallace in 1917.
The Chicago flag by Wallace Rice is one of the most popular local flags in the country. Its three white areas represent the North, South, and West sides of the city, separated by the branches of the Chicago River. Wallace's original had two distinctively shaped, red six-pointed stars, which later grew to four. They represent four major events in Chicago history: the founding of Fort Dearborn in 1803, the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, the World Columbian Exposition in 1893, and the World's Fair of 1933.
The Springfield flag was designed by S.T. Wallace. Its 21 stars commemorate Illinois's position as the 21st state in the Union. The large white star in the center represents Illinois itself, and the red star within it represents Springfield. The flag today also includes the name of the city, but this was not part of the original design and is not specified in the city's Code of Ordinances.