The flag: Cardinal’s Winter shows a 6 pointed star with 5 red pointed shapes in between the points— all positioned in the canton of the flag and in a white field. The fly side (right side) of the flag is a blue field with a slanted side descending down (80 degrees specifically). The 6 pointed star represents the 6 suburban regions of cook county: North, Northwest, West, Southwest, South, and Chicago. The 6 pointed star is also a reference to the 6 pointed stars in the flag of Chicago, an indicator that Chicago is a part of Cook county. The star being grey is associated with silver. The color of the silver medal resembling 2nd represents the urban regions totaling up to the 2nd populated county of the entire U.S. The blue field represents Lake Michigan— on the right side of the flag mimicking how the lake is east of Cook county and its slanted coast. Blue is the color of water, as well as the color itself resembling trust, security, and persistence.
The 5 red pointed shapes each resemble Cook County’s missions: Commerce, Transportation, Healthcare, Environment, and Justice. Each of them is shaped and colored as a representation of Northern Cardinal feathers. The Northern Cardinal is one of the common birds in Cook County and as well as Illinois’s national bird. The Northern Cardinal’s are resilient to winter as well as the red feathers contrasting from the white snow and can symbolize an end to winter and the start of spring. This goes hand to hand with the white field representing our winters often killing a majority of the plant life, a season where animals hibernate, longer nights, and the cold that can trouble people. This is a metaphor for these missions serving as hope for the people. When one is sick— there will be someone to treat them. When someone is falsely accused— they will be innocent until proven guilty. When someone struggles with their business, they can pull through and rebuild or improve it. All examples of the missions of hope can get us through the hard times like the Northern Cardinal— a symbol of resilience and its end of the hard times.