 the municipal flag of chicago consists of two blue horizontal stripes on a field of white, each stripe one-sixth the height of the full flag, and placed slightly less than one-sixth of the way from the top and bottom. between the two blue stripes are four red, six-pointed stars arranged in a horizontal row. the stripes represent geographical features of the city, the stars symbolize historical events, and the points of the stars represent important virtues or concepts. in a review by the north american vexillological association of 150 american city flags, the chicago city flag was ranked second best with a rating of 9.03 out of 10, behind only the flag of washington, d.c."2004 american city flags survey", north american vexillological association press release, 2 october 2004 ==symbolism== ===stripes=== the three white background areas of the flag represent, from top to bottom, the north, west and south sides of the city. the top blue stripe represents lake michigan and the north branch of the chicago river. the bottom blue stripe represents the south branch of the river and the "great canal", over the chicago portage. ===stars=== there are four red six-pointed stars on the center white stripe, from left to right (although this is not the order in which they were added to the flag). * the first star represents fort dearborn. it was added to the flag in 1939. its six points symbolize transportation, labor, commerce, finance, populousness, and salubrity. * the second star stands for the great chicago fire of 1871, and is original to the 1917 design of the flag. its six points represent the virtues of religion, education, aesthetics, justice, beneficence, and civic pride. * the third star symbolizes the world's columbian exposition of 1893, and is original to the 1917 design. its six points stand for political entities chicago has belonged to and the flags that have flown over the area: france 1693, great britain 1763, virginia 1778, the northwest territory 1789, indiana territory 1802, and illinois (territory 1809, and state 1818). * the fourth star represents the century of progress exposition (1933â
Chicago,_Illinois Flags_of_Illinois Flags_of_cities_in_the_United_States