Chicago’s white flag has two light-blue horizontal bars and four six-pointed red stars. The bars divide the field into three white bands, with the stars centered in the middle band.
Design structure
The two blue bars represent the city’s major waterways: the upper bar for Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River, and the lower for the South Branch and the Great Canal. The three white fields stand for the city’s north, west, and south sections.
Display colors
Screen approximationScreen approximationA flag that accumulated history
Wallace Rice designed the original two-star flag adopted in 1917. A third star was added in 1933 for the Century of Progress exposition, and a fourth followed in 1939 for Fort Dearborn. Each star’s six points carry a separate set of meanings.
Construction notes
Use six-pointed stars drawn specifically for the flag; conventional five-pointed stars are not substitutes. The code describes the field, stripes, and devices, while many physical reproductions use a 2:3 format.
Source trail
Office of the City Clerk: Municipal Code of Chicago, §1-8-030 ↗