Wight: There are so many schools of thought when it comes to state flag design. How did you get started?
Michael Zima: When it comes to flags, I believe the design needs to be tight and succinct. As is true in the most successful state flags, my goal was to capture the foundations, identity, and culture of our state in a single symbol. I supported the flag commission’s goals to use the design of this flag to celebrate Illinois's human fabric along with our agriculture and industrial roots.
Wight: How did you decide to use the violet as the focus of your design?
Michael Zima: After thinking through the requirements, the violet emerged as the best icon to honor the three elements in a single symbol. The violet, Illinois’s state flower, represents the people of Illinois. The flower is composed of seven corn kernels and a 21-pronged gear representing our agricultural and industrial foundations and the state’s status as the 21st state admitted to the Union.
Wight: Tell us about the background on your flag design.
Michael Zima: The background of my proposed flag features four navy bars that represent the four geographic features that hold the greatest geographic, economic, and historic significance in the formation of the state of Illinois: Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Chicago River/Illinois River system. In combining all these elements, I hope the flag can tell our story and serve as a symbol of pride that Illinoisans can rally around and feel proud of.
Wight: What will it mean to you if your design is selected as the winner?
Michael Zima: That would be a huge honor! It really set in last week when I was on site at one of our projects seeing the current flag outside just how surreal it would be for that flag flying below the American flag to be my design. The process of designing the flag and imagining it in many contexts really alerted me to just how widespread the use of the state flag is. Growing up near Chicago, I have always been inspired by what a source of local pride there is in the Chicago flag. I would love for the people of Illinois to be able to feel that same uniting pride in a symbol.
Michael, you’ve got our vote!
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