Community Corner
IL Voters 'Overwhelmingly' Reject Proposed Flag Redesign
Illinois residents cast more than 385,000 votes on whether to keep the state's "seal on a bedsheet" or adopt a new flag.
ILLINOIS — Nearly 5,000 designs and almost 385,000 votes later, voters "overwhelmingly" chose to keep Illinois's "seal on a bedsheet" flag.
Participants choose between 10 designs selected by the appointed Illinois Flag Commission, the 1918 centennial flag, the 1968 sesquicentennial flag or the current state flag — consisting of the state seal on a white background with "ILLINOIS" emblazoned along the bottom.
Starting in January, internet users from around the world were able to vote once per day per IP address through Feb. 14.
Find out what's happening in Across Illinoisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Despite the wealth of options, voters sided with consistency. The current state flag garnered more than 165,000 votes, or about 43 percent of the total vote — more than the next five top designs combined, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said in a video statement Thursday.
"Some may call it an SOB, a seal on a bedsheet, and the vexillologists may hate on it, but the people have spoken loudly and clearly," Giannoulias said.
Find out what's happening in Across Illinoisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
RELATED: Seal Or No Seal? Voting Open In Illinois Flag Design Contest
The people may have spoken, but the poll was advisory, and the choice will ultimately be left up to the General Assembly, which is set to vote later this spring on whether to adopt a new flag or keep the current one.
The Illinois Flag Commission was created by state legislation that passed in August 2023 and required to meet a month later. It missed that deadline, so lawmakers amended the law to push it back. The appointed commission also failed to convene by the extended deadline, but its members did eventually meet three times.
The commission accepted submissions for six weeks ending last October and received more than 4,800 submissions — although records obtained by Patch revealed that the total included a significant number of duplicate and joke responses.
More reporting:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
