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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, After Illinois adopted its first Constitution on
3August 26, 1818, it joined the Union as the 21st state on
4December 3, 1818; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Since its incorporation into the United States of
6America, Illinois has had 2 official State flags; the first was
7adopted on July 6, 1915 and the second was adopted on July 1,
81970; for its first 97 years of existence, however, the State
9of Illinois did not officially adopt a State flag; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In 1911, while on a visit to Washington D.C., Ella
11Park Lawrence, the State Regent of the Daughters of the
12American Revolution, noticed that the State of Illinois did not
13have a flag or symbol located in the organization's Memorial
14Continental Hall; determined to have Illinois adopt a flag, she
15wrote countless letters to members of the General Assembly in
16order to have a bill filed creating a State flag; so sincere
17was her effort that she offered a $25 prize to the Illinois
18Daughters of the American Revolution chapter that submitted the
19best design for a flag; and
 
20    WHEREAS, A total of 35 designs were submitted to the
21Daughters of the American Revolution-sponsored contest; in the
22end, a 4-person panel decided on the submission of Miss Lucy

 

 

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1Derwent of the Rockford Daughters of the American Revolution
2Chapter; the design, which placed the Great Seal of the State
3of Illinois before a plain, white background, was simple, yet
4emphatic and plenary; and
 
5    WHEREAS, With the Daughters of the American Revolution
6competition complete and a winning design selected, State
7Senator Raymond D. Meeker introduced the bill that was to
8legalize the flag; Senator Meeker's bill passed both houses and
9became law on July 6, 1915, thereby becoming the Flag Act of
101915; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Flag Act represented the first official
12endorsement of a State flag; however, it did not necessarily
13create a monolithic, uniform symbol; various flag
14manufacturing companies failed to create a standard design, as
15each reproduction seemed to deviate from the other; in some
16cases, the colors would modified in order to cater to different
17settings, such as weddings, funerals, and dinners; over 50
18years passed before further changes to the flag were made in
19order to address concerns of uniformity and distinctiveness;
20and
 
21    WHEREAS, In 1968, Chief Petty Officer Bruce McDaniel of
22Waverly was serving a tour of duty in Vietnam; the Illinois
23flag was one of many state flags that were hung on the walls of

 

 

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1his mess hall, yet he was concerned that there was nothing in
2the Illinois flag that distinctly demarcated or represented the
3State of Illinois; he subsequently wrote his representative
4seeking a remedy; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Upon receiving CPO McDaniel's request to modify
6the design to make it more easily recognizable as Illinoisan,
7State Representative Jack E. Walker sponsored legislation to
8amend the original Flag Act of 1915; Representative Walker's
9bill added the State's name to the flag, yet failed to address
10the issues which had given way for non-conformity in the flag's
11design and reproduction; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Then-Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed a flag
13committee made up of the State Historian, the Director of the
14Illinois Information Service, and the State Records Archivist
15that was entrusted with the task of ascertaining proper flag
16design specifications; the committee produced a list of 5
17recommendations that they believed would ensure uniformity in
18reproduction of design and color by flag makers; Florence
19Sanford Hutchinson of Greenfield submitted a flag design that
20abided by all the required elements stipulated under the
21committee's specifications; and
 
22    WHEREAS, On July 1, 1970, the amendments to the Flag Act
23went into effect; the sun, water, rock, land, shield, ribbon,

 

 

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1and name of the State of Illinois became the codified
2components of the flag; and
 
3    WHEREAS, While there may be things that divide us here in
4the State of Illinois, many more things unite us; the flag,
5which contains the words "State Sovereignty, National Union,"
6is a symbol that was crafted by the faithful hands of a
7Daughter of the American Revolution; 100 years later, that
8symbol signifies that much more to every Illinoisan; therefore,
9be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
12recognize and celebrate the centennial of the flag of the State
13of Illinois, which will reach the one-hundredth year of
14existence on July 6, 2015; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of the this resolution be
16presented to the Rockford Chapter of the Daughters of the
17American Revolution as a token of our sincere appreciation for
18their continued commitment to American history, education, and
19patriotism both in Winnebago County and the State of Illinois.