Full Text of HR0596 099th General Assembly
HR0596 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, After Illinois adopted its first Constitution on | 3 | | August 26, 1818, it joined the Union as the 21st state on | 4 | | December 3, 1818; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Since its incorporation into the United States of | 6 | | America, Illinois has had 2 official State flags; the first was | 7 | | adopted on July 6, 1915 and the second was adopted on July 1, | 8 | | 1970; for its first 97 years of existence, however, the State | 9 | | of Illinois did not officially adopt a State flag; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, In 1911, while on a visit to Washington D.C., Ella | 11 | | Park Lawrence, the State Regent of the Daughters of the | 12 | | American Revolution, noticed that the State of Illinois did not | 13 | | have a flag or symbol located in the organization's Memorial | 14 | | Continental Hall; determined to have Illinois adopt a flag, she | 15 | | wrote countless letters to members of the General Assembly in | 16 | | order to have a bill filed creating a State flag; so sincere | 17 | | was her effort that she offered a $25 prize to the Illinois | 18 | | Daughters of the American Revolution chapter that submitted the | 19 | | best design for a flag; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, A total of 35 designs were submitted to the | 21 | | Daughters of the American Revolution-sponsored contest; in the | 22 | | end, a 4-person panel decided on the submission of Miss Lucy |
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| 1 | | Derwent of the Rockford Daughters of the American Revolution | 2 | | Chapter; the design, which placed the Great Seal of the State | 3 | | of Illinois before a plain, white background, was simple, yet | 4 | | emphatic and plenary; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, With the Daughters of the American Revolution | 6 | | competition complete and a winning design selected, State | 7 | | Senator Raymond D. Meeker introduced the bill that was to | 8 | | legalize the flag; Senator Meeker's bill passed both houses and | 9 | | became law on July 6, 1915, thereby becoming the Flag Act of | 10 | | 1915; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The Flag Act represented the first official | 12 | | endorsement of a State flag; however, it did not necessarily | 13 | | create a monolithic, uniform symbol; various flag | 14 | | manufacturing companies failed to create a standard design, as | 15 | | each reproduction seemed to deviate from the other; in some | 16 | | cases, the colors would modified in order to cater to different | 17 | | settings, such as weddings, funerals, and dinners; over 50 | 18 | | years passed before further changes to the flag were made in | 19 | | order to address concerns of uniformity and distinctiveness; | 20 | | and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, In 1968, Chief Petty Officer Bruce McDaniel of | 22 | | Waverly was serving a tour of duty in Vietnam; the Illinois | 23 | | flag was one of many state flags that were hung on the walls of |
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| 1 | | his mess hall, yet he was concerned that there was nothing in | 2 | | the Illinois flag that distinctly demarcated or represented the | 3 | | State of Illinois; he subsequently wrote his representative | 4 | | seeking a remedy; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Upon receiving CPO McDaniel's request to modify | 6 | | the design to make it more easily recognizable as Illinoisan, | 7 | | State Representative Jack E. Walker sponsored legislation to | 8 | | amend the original Flag Act of 1915; Representative Walker's | 9 | | bill added the State's name to the flag, yet failed to address | 10 | | the issues which had given way for non-conformity in the flag's | 11 | | design and reproduction; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Then-Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed a flag | 13 | | committee made up of the State Historian, the Director of the | 14 | | Illinois Information Service, and the State Records Archivist | 15 | | that was entrusted with the task of ascertaining proper flag | 16 | | design specifications; the committee produced a list of 5 | 17 | | recommendations that they believed would ensure uniformity in | 18 | | reproduction of design and color by flag makers; Florence | 19 | | Sanford Hutchinson of Greenfield submitted a flag design that | 20 | | abided by all the required elements stipulated under the | 21 | | committee's specifications; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, On July 1, 1970, the amendments to the Flag Act | 23 | | went into effect; the sun, water, rock, land, shield, ribbon, |
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| 1 | | eagle, and name of the State of Illinois became the codified | 2 | | components of the flag; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, While there may be things that divide us here in | 4 | | the State of Illinois, many more things unite us; the flag, | 5 | | which contains the words "State Sovereignty, National Union," | 6 | | is a symbol that was crafted by the faithful hands of a | 7 | | Daughter of the American Revolution; 100 years later, that | 8 | | symbol signifies that much more to every Illinoisan; therefore, | 9 | | be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 12 | | celebrate the centennial of the flag of the State of Illinois; | 13 | | and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of the this resolution be | 15 | | presented to the Rockford Chapter of the Daughters of the | 16 | | American Revolution as a token of our sincere appreciation for | 17 | | their continued commitment to American history, education, and | 18 | | patriotism both in Winnebago County and the State of Illinois.
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