Meanings/Symbolism: The 6-pointed star represents the 6 regions of Cook County. The yellow in the star represents the bright sunshine that shines over the city and the county. The star also represents the city of Chicago as the seat and centerpiece of the county. The green in the green stripes represents the nature and forest preserves in the county. The white spaces represent clarity, the highway system, and the city. The 6 yellow and green stripes also represent the 6 regions of Cook County. They also represent the diversity of the county, as sort of a fabric interwoven, weaving the different people of the county together.
Meanings/Symbolism: The blue represents the waters of the county—Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, etc. The yellow represents the sun shining over the county. The 6 stars and the 6 points on the stars stand for the 6 regions of the county (so, the sun shining equally over the 6 regions of the county). The orange stripes stand for the bridges over the waters in the county, e.g., the many bridges downtown going over the Chicago River. The 4 blue stripes and the 3 orange stripes together stand for Cook County being a diverse area that has people from all of the 7 continents (including, in the case of Antarctica, the many scientists in the county who have worked and lived there temporarily for their research).
Idealistically, blue stands for peace and calm. Orange stands for connection. The yellow on the 6-pointed stars stand for hope and happiness, as well as hard work and education.
The 6-pointed star represents the 6 regions of Cook County. The star’s Chicago-flag-styling serves as a nod to the City of Chicago as the seat and centerpiece of the county.
A large, yellow star represents the bright sun that shines over everything. The green stripes represent our nature and forest preserves. The yellow stripes invoke the interconnected highway system and the heights of our skyscrapers.
The blue spaces in-between are our waterways and lakes. When these colors come together, they also represent the diversity of the county, as sort of a fabric interwoven, uniting the different people of the county together.
1. What inspired you to become a mentor for the Flag 2021 competition? I was asked by my colleague Martinez E-B to participate as he’s aware of my long teaching history, and I can almost never pass up the chance for some friendly competition.
2.Through this experience what did you learn from your student, and what did you hope to impart upon your student? I had the luck of working with two separate students for this challenge, Edward Carr and Deahvyon Jones. I came in with very few preconceived notions, and just wanted to help them push their ideas forward into something fresh and exciting, while still keeping their visions intact.
3. Tell us about a favorite memory you have working with your student(s). My favorite memory of the process was seeing their work for the first time, and getting excited at the possibilities. Both of these gentlemen started off with visually striking ideas rendered in colored pencil. Pushing these into ‘flag format’ (i.e. consistent stripe sizes, proportionality, unified star shapes, etc.) took a bit of work, but the end result still showed off their ideas with some of my design flourishes that made them shine.
1. How does the flag you designed represent who you are and what you care about? The flags I designed represent me because I care about hope, harmony, and freedom. If we have those things, Chicago and Cook County will be peaceful and strong.
2. Why did you decide to join the Flag 2021 competition? I decided to join the Flag 2021 competition because I’m a good artist, and I want to show my pride in Cook County through my art.
3. What did you learn about Cook County that surprised you? Something I learned about Cook County that surprised me is that there are six regions in Cook County.
4. Tell us a short story about your collaboration with your flag mentor/partner(s). I remember the excitement that Faiz Razi had when he told us how much the committee liked my “Harmony” flag design. That made me feel good. I worked hard on it and it made me happy that the committee liked that design.
