Skokie seeks community’s input on three new-flag finalists

The Village of Skokie has narrowed down the contenders for its new flag to just three designs, yet there is still time for community members to weigh in on their favorite.

After completing an open call for submissions last fall that drew 79 flag designs from Skokie residents, a panel of village staff, artists, graphic designers and art educators picked three finalists for “further consideration and refinement,” a village webpage shows. 

The three final contenders are the “Skokie Spirit,” designed by Buddy Boor; the “Prairie Flame” by Jasmine Dela Luna and Jeffrey Meyer; and the “Skokie Spirit” by Richa Cordero.

The village’s Feb. 10 weekly newsletter invited community members to participate in an online survey to provide comments about the designs and answer whether they feel the finalists are easily recognizable and representative of Skokie. The survey is open until March 8. 

Patrick Deignan, Skokie’s communications director and a member of the Flag Review Panel, said all of the members of the panel will review the survey results and meet to share their thoughts on the community’s feedback.

If there’s a consensus from the public, the panel may agree on which design they think village staff should recommend to the Village Board for adoption, but there is “still the potential” that the panel could ask the artists for some minor refinements to their designs, Deignan said. 

Village staff will then likely offer a recommendation to the Village Board in April, Deignan said.

In selecting finalists, the village’s Flag Review Panel apparently shared a number of the submissions with the North American Vexillological Association and reviewed design principals compiled by Ted Kaye, a member of the association and the author of the book “‘Good’ Flag, ‘Bad’ Flag.”

The move to replace Skokie’s existing flag — which features an arrowhead and the profile of a Native American wearing a feathered war bonnet — comes after the village completed a similar initiative to replace its seal. 

Staff created a Village Seal Committee in June 2023 to replace a seal design that had been in use since the 1940s and featured Native imagery; many people “including Native community members, felt the design did not represent them respectfully,” a village website says. 

The Village Board approved a new seal design in March 2025. It was designed by local artist Mary Fedorowski, with help from Marne Smiley. A mosaic of the new seal, fabricated by another local artist and former village employee Joe Folise, now hangs in council chambers.

The new seal design centers on the “Skokie Spirit flame,” an image inspired by the village’s connection to the Potawatomi (Keepers of the Fire) and the three indigenous nations that were part of the Council of Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi. 

The three final contenders for Skokie’s new flag also appear to feature a rendition of a flame. 

Deignan said he could not confirm the specific date when Skokie’s existing flag was first adopted. The village flag went through a couple of different iterations but its imagery was drawn from the previous Skokie seal, he said.

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