Chicago Flag
Like the city itself, Chicago’s flag is a thing of beauty. We may be biased (Pono founders Lauren and Paul, along with many members of our team, live in the Chicago area). But it’s not just our hometown pride. Like all good design, the Chicago flag has a story behind it.
The flag was created by Chicago writer Wallace Rice using simple, impactful design choices to represent the city. The white stripes stand for the North, West, and South sides. The blue stripes symbolize Lake Michigan and the North and South branches of the Chicago River. And the stars commemorate key events in Chicago’s history: Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire, the World’s Columbian Exposition, and the Century of Progress Exposition.
Here’s another fun fact from one of Pono's team members (betcha didn’t think we’d have so many flag facts): “You may remember that Chicago was vying to host the Olympics in 2016. I did some work on the Olympic bid committee’s website back then—had the city won their bid, they wanted to add a fifth star to the Chicago flag.”
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2022 monthly Pono post, August