The state flag may not change after all.
According to a recent vote, the public overwhelmingly favors retaining the current state flag. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced the results following a five-week voting period to consider a redesign of the flag.
According to a release, voters had the option to choose their favorite design from one of the Illinois Flag Commission’s Top 10 new designs, or one of three former flag designs, including the current one, which has not had a major redesign in the past century.
Giannoulias says nearly 385,000 votes were received. Over 165,000, or 43 percent, were cast for the current Illinois State flag, which received more votes than the next five top designs combined.
The Illinois Flag Commission will prepare a report detailing its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by April 1. The release says lawmakers will then vote on whether to adopt a new flag, return to a previous iteration or keep the current one.
Background
Senate Bill 1818, sponsored by State Senator Doris Turner (48th District—Springfield) and State Representative Kam Buckner (26th District—Chicago), was signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker in 2023, creating the commission to gauge public desire for a new 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.