Chicago's obsession with itself revolves around our city flag more than any other official civic symbol. We take it for granted that a municipal flag would be plastered on billboards, trinkets, food, clothing, and skin (happily we haven't heard of any enforcement of the Chicago ordinance proclaiming it unlawful to manipulate the flag), but how did we come to be tops in the nation in deployment? Few cities even come close, and most locals have zero familiarity with their city's official cloth.
Unbridled enthusiasm for the Chicago flag is best explained by its superior design, claims a Chicago Mag post by Robert Loerzel. Simplicity in symbolism and color made ours an obvious unifier among young 1990s transplants during the first significant back-to-the-city movement since White Flight struck in the 1950s— when relentlessly celebrating a city, it always helps to have a remove from that city's problems. Once flag manipulations began, there was no stopping it. The North American Vexillological Association, which concerns itself with the rating of flag designs, gave Chicago's a 9.03 out of 10 points— second to Washington, D.C.'s. Among large cities, Phoenix also ranked high and Midwestern pal St. Louis had the fifth-ranked flag.
·Chicago's Flag is a Much Bigger Deal Than Any Other City's Flag [Chicago Mag]
·In Chicago, the city flag is on everything, everyone [WBEZ]
·Chicago Flag Tattoos
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