So just like the United States flag adds a star with each new state, the flag of Chicago add’s stars as the city has major events. For this, they used the area around Burnham harbor and the newly reclaimed land which is now Northerly Island. This second World’s Fair event celebrated Chicago’s Centennial and focused on technological innovation. The fourth star was added in 1933 and represents the Century of Progress Exhibition. The only thing remaining in Jackson Park from the World's Fair is this building, which is now the Museum of Science and Industry. Early civil rights leaders including Frederick Douglas wrote pamphlets against the fair. Of course, hosting a World's Fair honoring colonizer Christopher Columbus in a park named after Andrew Jackson which featured an exhibit called “White City” which idealized white male power and dominance.is a vibe. So many things that we use today were debuted at that World's Fair: The zipper, the Ferris wheel, the Pledge of Allegiance, etc. The third star is the other of the original two stars, and it represents the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition, which happened in Jackson Park in 1893. The MLS team in Chicago is named the Chicago Fire in their branding, as well as a ton of the elements we've been talking about. The Great Fire looms large in Chicago's history. On the site of the original barn stands the now Chicago Fire Academy. What we do know is that it started in a barn on De Koven Street. There's a lot of legends about how the great fire started, but nobody really knows for sure. This fire burned for two full days, destroying 17,000 buildings over three miles. It represents the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In fact, it's the newest addition to the flag. You can find markers along the ground and a plaque right outside of a.Smashburger.Įven though the Fort Dearborn star is the first one on the flag, it is not one of the original two stars. Fort Dearborn, was destroyed in the War of 1812, but the site is still visible on the corner of E. It was a United States fort built in 1803 right next to the Chicago River. The first star on the Chicago flag, the one nearest to the hoist, represents Fort Dearborn. Each of the six pointed stars represents a major event in Chicago's history.ĬHICAGO FLAG STAR MEANINGS Fort Dearborn Star The original Chicago flag, designed by Wallace Rice, only had two stars, and those stars were positioned towards the hoist of the flag. Some places, like Wikipedia, assign meanings to every single point on all four stars, but it's never referenced anywhere officially, so I'm not going to cover it here. He had also never seen a six pointed star on a flag before, and so he thought this could be a really unique symbol for Chicago. Wallace Race made them six pointed stars because he believed that five pointed stars represented a sovereign state, and Chicago is just a city. They're so famous that the NWSL team for Chicago is literally named the "Chicago Red Stars", and their branding is just parts of the flag. And the bottom one representing the South branch and the Great Canal.Īnd then we have the famous red six pointed stars. The top one representing Lake Michigan and the north branch of the Chicago River. If you didn't already guess, the two blue bars represent water. When you add those bars, it creates three separate white areas and those areas represent the three sections of the city the North, the West and the South sides. The bars are 1/6th the height of the actual flag, and they are added a little bit less than 1/6th away from the top in the bottom, respectively (though, in practice, the stripes are usually found exactly 1/6 from the top and bottom). The Chicago flag starts with a field of white with a 2:3 proportion. On the field are added two sky blue bars. Rice was a Harvard educated author, and he also wrote for the Chicago Tribune.Įvery truly great flag has a lot of meaning and the Chicago flag has a ton of symbolism baked into a seemingly simple design. He won a flag design competition put on by the City Council in 1917. The current flag of Chicago was designed by Wallace Rice. The Chicago flag is one of the most iconic and one of the most well-designed city flags anywhere in the world. Who designed the Chicago flag? What do each of the stars mean? Could (and should) Chicago ever add a fifth star to the flag? Chicago has one of the greatest city flags on earth.
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