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West Chicago, Illinois (U.S.)

DuPage County

image located by Ned Smith, 2 April 2006
Source: http://wegoweb.net/history/cityflag.html

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

At http://wegoweb.net/history/cityflag.html is a history and image of the city flag of West Chicago, Illinois. According to the page:

The prime movement for the adoption of official City colors and a City flag was initiated by Don Nellis, a member of the West Chicago Railroad and Historical Society, which has since been absorbed into the West Chicago Historical Society. Early in 1966, the West Chicago Railroad and Historical Society conducted a contest for the selection of suitable colors for the City, and, as a result, the West Chicago City Council in April, 1966 adopted red, white, blue, and green as the official City colors. Each color signifies some segment of local or regional history.

The red color is associated with the American flag and the community's namesake, Chicago, while also honoring the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The while is associated with the national and Chicago flags, as well as with one of the high school colors. The blue, as a band, commemorates the importance of the DuPage River; it also represents the second high school color and, like red and white, it is associated with national and Chicago flags. Green, the fourth color, honors both the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway. In November of 1966, the West Chicago Railroad and Historical Society received permission and support from the West Chicago City Council to conduct a companion contest to design an official City flag. The contest was conducted from November,1966 to January, 1967, and the panel of four judges, who -volunteered to select the winning design, consisted of Raymond J. Anderson, representing the West Chicago City Council; James Frolik, representing the West Chicago Chamber of Commerce &Industry: Willard R. Buchanan, representing the American Legion; and Carl D. Schweizer, representing the West Chicago Railroad and Historical Society. From the fourteen entries submitted, the design jointly submitted by Don Nellis and Frank Scobey was judged the most appropriate, and, in March, 1967, it was adopted by the West Chicago City Council as the official City flag. On June 5 a large and specially made, gold fringed, silk flag was presented to and accepted by the City Council. The flag's design embodies the present City seal, which was adopted in 1954. This theme was first used for the West Chicago Centennial in 1949 and was the work of Thomas Fawell, a West Chicago artist. The first official seal here, when the former Village of Turner was organized in 1873, also contained a locomotive engine design. Thus, West Chicago's official seal, with its railroad founding motif and date, is now incorporated in the City's flag.

Ned Smith, 2 April 2006