3x5 Illinois State Flag

The flag of the state of Illinois (designed in 1912 by Lucy Derwent in response to a contest held by the Daughters of the American Revolution) passaged in the Illinois State House and Senate on July 6 1915 but Governor Edward F. Dunne did not sign nor veto the bill. The current flag depicts the Great Seal of Illinois. In the eagle's beak there is a banner with the state motto, "State Sovereignty, National Union." The dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868 represent the year Illinois became a state and the year in which the Great Seal was redesigned by Sharon Tyndale. Although "State Sovereignty" comes first in the motto, Illinois was recently victorious American Civil War on the Union side, fighting against state sovereignty, so Tyndale placed "State" at the bottom and "Sovereignty" upside-down.