50. Illinois

*Editor's Note - This is the first installment of a new fifty-part series entitled "My Top 50 Favorite State Flags."




Congratulations to Illinois for having the worst flag in our great country!

Why is the eagle vomiting a federalism banner? Why is wheat growing out of the sun? And most of all why does this flag look like an elementary school art project?

I was shocked to see this cartoony approach to an official state flag. And it gets worse. There are like 20 more flags that look like the cover to an Apple IIe computer game. We'll get to them.

I should say something nice about the Illinois flag. "State Sovereignty, National Union" strikes my Libertarian-bone in a pleasant way.

I like that the image is a circle, but the edges aren't totally filled in. That adds at least a few grams of zing.

But I don't like that it says "Illinois" in big letters. As we'll see later, most of the really good flags know they are striking and memorable. Slapping the state's name up there is basically admitting defeat.