In with the old: Current state flag wins big in flag redesign contest, Illinois Secretary of State announces

The people of Illinois have spoken, and they overwhelmingly favor retaining the current state flag.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has announced the results of the state flag redesign contest following a five-week voting period. Voters had the option to choose their favorite from one of the Illinois Flag Commission’s Top 10 new designs, or to choose one of three former flag designs — including the current one, which has not had a major redesign in the past century.

That’s the one they favored, by a lot.

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.

Senate Bill 1818, sponsored by State Sen. Doris Turner (48th District, Springfield) and State Rep. Kam Buckner (26th District, Chicago), was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023, creating the commission to gauge public desire for a new state flag.

The commission selected its top 10 finalists in December from the 4,844 entries it received during the six-week submission period that closed in October.

Here’s a breakdown of the results from the public voting period: