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Rolling Meadows seal — once subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case — to be replaced

The Rolling Meadows city seal — famously the subject of a lawsuit by atheist Rob Sherman that led to its alteration — is set to become a relic of the past.

The city council decided this week on a new design for the official municipal seal, as part of a larger rebranding effort that also includes a separate marketing logo and tagline.

A formal vote on an ordinance enacting the change is still to come this fall.

Rolling Meadows' four-leaf clover seal — originally designed by an eighth grader in 1960 — is set to be retired. Courtesy of City of Rolling Meadows

The silhouette of a man, woman and child in the lower quadrant is what eventually replaced the image of a cross and church in the original seal, designed by eighth grader Cheryl Knudsen for the city’s fifth anniversary in 1960.

Sherman, a noted activist from Buffalo Grove who died in a plane crash in 2016, took Rolling Meadows and Zion to court over their city seals and won via a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The seal has been one of several competing images used over the years on city signage, letterheads and documents, including a so-called “tombstone” logo of green and blue waves and hills, and diagonally and horizontally stacked letters “R” and “M.”

Rolling Meadows’ so-called “tombstone” logo — used on business cards, the city website and newsletter — will be refreshed as part of a rebranding campaign. Courtesy of Rolling Meadows

“There had already been a lot of products going in different directions to dilute that image,” Assistant City Manager Glen Cole said. “Part of what we shared with the city council and were directed to do was to try to unify that with something new.”

That led to the rebranding project launched nearly a year ago under consultant Selbert Perkins Design.

After two logo finalists failed to gain traction with residents surveyed at the Fourth of July parade, aldermen decided to go back to one of the four original options the consultant presented. Named “Natural Harmony,” the green logo is an evolution and modern interpretation of the current tombstone mark, said John Lutz, a partner in the Chicago office of Selbert Perkins Design.

Called “Natural Harmony,” this new Rolling Meadows logo is expected to be placed on city vehicles, water towers and documents starting next year. Courtesy of City of Rolling Meadows

The proposed new city seal integrates the topography of waves and hills underneath “Rolling Meadows” and beside 1955, the year of incorporation. At a committee meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Lara Sanoica and aldermen picked the consultant’s recommended square seal over three variations of traditional circular emblems.

Sanoica called the rounded renderings “basket weaving,” while Cole described it as a “ball of yarn.”

Rolling Meadows aldermen had four proposed city seals to choose from, deciding on option 4, at far right. Courtesy of City of Rolling Meadows

What isn’t changing are the logo patches on uniforms of police officers and firefighters.

“I think there’s a lot of pride in those patches with fire and the police,” Lutz said.

The council also endorsed a new tagline — “Together We Can” — which will replace the current “Progress Through Participation.”

The first wave of implementation for the new branding is expected early next year.

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