The flag of Chicago consists of two light blue horizontal bars, or stripes, on a field of white, each bar one-sixth the height of the full flag, and placed slightly less than one-sixth of the way from the top and bottom. Four bright red stars, with six sharp points each, are set side by side, close together, in the middle third of the flag's surface.
Symbolism
Bars
The three white background areas of the flag represent, from top to bottom, the North, West, and South sides of the city. The top blue bar represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River. The bottom blue bar represents the South Branch of the river and the "Great Canal", over the Chicago Portage. or pale blue; in a 1917 article of a speech by designer Wallace Rice, it was called "the color of water". From the hoist outwards, the stars represent:
- Original to the 1917 flag: This star stands for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Its six points symbolize transportation, labor, commerce, finance, populousness, and salubrity (health).
Additional stars have been proposed, with varying degrees of seriousness. The following reasons have been suggested for possible additions of a fifth star:
Fifth Star
thumb|Hypothetical version of the Chicago flag with a fifth star added
- A fifth star could represent Chicago's contribution to the nuclear age (see Metallurgical Laboratory), an idea first suggested in a 1940s letter published by the Chicago Tribune and later championed by Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1960s.
- In the 1980s, a star was proposed in honor of Harold Washington, the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
- When Chicago was bidding to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Bid Committee proposed that a fifth star be added to the flag in commemoration, but the bid was won instead by Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Anne Burke, Tim Shriver, and others have proposed adding a fifth star to commemorate the Special Olympics, which were founded in Chicago.
- Other sports-related suggestions include recognizing the Chicago Bulls' dominance of the National Basketball Association in the 1990s and a proposal for a fifth star if the Chicago Cubs should ever win the World Series, which did not happen between their long drought of series wins in 1908, up to 2016.
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested that Chicago's response to the COVID-19 pandemic could warrant adding a fifth star to Chicago's flag.
Unlawful private use
Per the Municipal Code of Chicago, it is unlawful to use the flag, or any imitation or design thereof, except for the usual and customary purposes of decoration or display. Causing to be displayed on the flag, any letter, word, legend, or device not provided for in the Code is also prohibited. Violators are subject to fines between $5.00 and $25.00 for each offense. However, the United States Constitution, via its first and fourteenth amendments, prohibits this section from being enforced (Street v. New York).