# 1653 - 1976 13c State Flags: Illinois

U.S. 1653
1976 Illinois
State Flags
American Bicentennial Series

• First time a sheet 50 had all different stamp designs
• Part of the American Bicentennial Series

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: American Bicentennial Series
Value: 13¢ First-class postage rate
First Day of Issue: February 23, 1976
First Day City(s): Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 8,720,100 (panes of 50)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Sheet of 50
Perforations: 11

Why the stamp was issued:
    The United States Postal Service celebrated the American Bicentennial with a full pane of the Union’s fifty state flags.

About the stamp design:
    According to Whitney Smith author of Flags and Arms Across the World, “…on July 6, 1915, it [legislature] adopted a flag that had been developed in a contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. On a white field the flag showed design elements from the state seal—a rock on a stretch of land with water and the rising sun behind it, plus a shield bearing the national stars and stripes in the claws of a bald eagle. A ribbon in the beak of the eagle bore the motto of Illinois, “State sovereignty—national union”; and the dates 1818 (for statehood) and 1868 (for the first use of the state seal) were shown on the rock.”

About the printing process:
    Printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on their seven-color Andreotti gravure press (601) which was their work horse for multicolored stamps.

About the American Bicentennial Series:
    In the 1970s, America celebrated its 200th anniversary with hundreds of national events commemorating the heroes and historic events that led to our nation’s independence from Great Britain. The U.S. Postal Service issued 113 commemorative stamps over a six-year period in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, beginning with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Emblem stamp (U.S. #1432). As a group, the Bicentennial Series chronicles one of our nation’s most important chapters, and remembers the events and patriots who made the U.S. a world model for liberty.

    Several of the stamps honored colonial life – craftsmen and communication. Other stamps honored important battles including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga. Significant events such as the Boston Tea Party, the meeting of the First Continental Congress, and the Declaration of Independence were featured as well. The stamps also honored many significant people such as George Washington, Sybil Ludington, Salem Poor, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

    Many of the stamps feature classic artwork. For instance, the set of four souvenir sheets picture important events recreated by noted artists such as John Trumbull. The Bicentennial Series also includes an important US postal first – the first 50-stamp se-tenant – featuring all 50 state flags. The format proved to be popular with collectors, and has been repeated many times since.

    The American Bicentennial Series is packed with important US history – it tells the story of our nation’s fight for independence through stamps.

History the stamp represents:
    On December 3, 1818, President James Monroe signed legislation admitting the state of Illinois to the Union.

    In 1673, the governor-general of the French colonies in Canada, Louis de Buade, Compte de Frontenac, sent Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet to explore the Mississippi River. Marquette and Jolliet were most likely the first Europeans to reach Illinois. The men traveled south along the western border of the state and then returned north up the Illinois River. In 1675, Marquette founded a mission at an Indian village near present-day Ottawa. In 1699, French priests established the first permanent European settlement in Illinois, at Cahokia.

    The French made Illinois part of the colony of Louisiana in 1717. In 1720, the French built Fort de Chartres on the east bank of the Mississippi, about 20 miles north of Kaskaskia. When this fort was rebuilt in the 1750s, it became the strongest in all of North America. Though remote at the time, the fighting of the French and Indian War even reached Illinois. In 1763, the British defeated the French, and Illinois came under British rule. Soon after, many French settlers in the area moved west to avoid government by the British.

    As the representatives of the states prepared to sign the Articles of Confederation, Maryland refused to ratify the document unless Virginia – and other states that held western lands – gave up their claims. So, in 1784, Virginia gave Illinois to the Federal Government. When Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Illinois was made part of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, it became part of the Indiana Territory, but settlers in the far west of the state complained it was difficult for them to join in the affairs of Indiana. So on March 1, 1809, the area was established as the Illinois Territory.

    In early 1818, residents began their push for statehood by petitioning Congress and drawing up a state constitution. Though they didn’t have the required 60,000 residents to achieve statehood, Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818. However, at that time, only the southern third of the state was settled. Nathaniel Pope, the territorial governor, had the northern border pushed to its current boundary. This gave the state access to the Chicago port area, lead deposits around Galena, and the rich dairy areas of the north.