Hi folks Patrick Page here with Flag-Works…Illinois has had two official state flags.  In 1913, a contest was held for the best state flag design offered by one of the Illinois chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Lucy Derwent’s winning design took elements from the state seal designed by Sharon Tyndale, Illinois’s secretary of state in 1868.  When an American officer in Vietnam complained that the Illinois flag lacked distinction, the wheels were in motion for some changes.  The Illinois state flag was replaced in 1970 by a flag that was revised by Mrs. Sanford Hutchinson.  It contains an exact copy of Tyndale’s state seal, with the word “Illinois” in blue letters below.  Illinois State Flag Adopted:  1970