There aren’t a lot of cities in the United States that are home to more prideful people than the city of Chicago. The Windy city is the corner stone of the Midwest and the people that live there are known for their hardworking spirit and grit. Therefore, you are bound to see some people sporting a tattoo of the Chicago city flag. The Chicago flag tattoo is one that holds a great deal of meaning to the folks that wear it and it has a wonderful story behind it.

History of the Chicago Flag

Chairman William Robust Thompson delegated a municipal flag commission in 1915, led by Council member James A. Kearnes. Affluent industrialist Charles Deering was one of the members as well as impressionist painter Lawton S. Parker. Parker asked speaker and artist, Wallace Rice, to create an open competition to see who could create the best flag. There were over a thousand entries submitted for approval. After all this, it was Wallace Rice’s entry that won them over. On April 4, 1917, the commission’s suggestion was acknowledged by the city committee.

The flag has a white background with two horizonal stripes. The two stripes are 1/6th of the overall height of the flag. Between the two stripes sit four stars with six points.

The Stripes

In more detail, each aspect of the Chicago flag has meaning. The three white spaces from top to bottom represent the North side, West side and South side respectively. The top blue stripe signifies Lake Michigan and the Chicago River north branch. The bottom blue stripe signifies the “Great Canal” and the south branch of the Chicago River. The shade of blue chosen for the flag is representative of “the color of water” as described by Wallace Rice. It’s also referred to as sky blue or pale blue.

The Stars

The four red, six pointed stars on Chicago flag represent major historical events in the Windy City. The first star on the flag is there for Fort Dearborn and was added in 1939. Fort Dearborn was erected in 1803 next to the Chicago River. It was named in honor of Henry Dearborn who was the United States Secretary of War at the time. It was built by the troops serving under Captain John Whistler. Each point of that star represents salubrity, commerce, finance, populousness, transportation and labor.