Grayslake residents to vote for new village flag

While COVID-19 concerns may have canceled the big party celebrating the occasion, Grayslake residents are being called upon to mark their village's 125th anniversary by voting for a new flag via an online poll through the end of the month.

Assistant Village Manager Brett Kryska said the village was planning to unveil a new flag to coincide with the 125th anniversary, but officials might not have conducted an online poll were it not for the pandemic.

"The current flag has been around for decades," Kryska said. "The board felt it was the right time to redesign the flag."

The current flag is divided into three sections - blue, white and green - and features Grayslake spelled out in the center.

Kryska said village leaders thought an online poll would be the best and safest way to engage the community in the new design.

The village board reached out to the Grayslake Arts Alliance to seek artists and designers to come up with options.

Married couple John and Zee Lacson were among the designers tabbed for input. Zee Lacson said they were asked to turn in options that used symbols of the village and echoed the village's history. After learning about the history of Grayslake, she said the couple focused on learning more about flags, the study of which is called vexillology.

"I didn't realize how much goes into making a flag. There are a lot of rules involved," Zee Lacson said.

Their first design was full of symbolism. The main green triangular shape mimics the iconic roofline of the village hall and heritage center. Two white gaps in the green line represent the railways crucial to Grayslake's founding, and a gray triangle at the center is for the body of water for which the village is named. The three gray lines upon which the design sits represent Henry Hawley, Chase Webb and Charles Whitney, who founded the town.

The design was devoid of text, something Zee said the couple received pushback on when they submitted their work. So the couple made a second, similar design and added the village's name and three more local icons, the Grayslake Gelatin factory smokestack, the heritage center and fire station water tower.

"I started out thinking it was going to be a fun contest but later it became of a matter of pride for my city," Zee Lacson said of the experience.

Many of the other eight designs also reference the iconic heritage center roofline and all bear the message "Grayslake Est. 1895."

Voting is open to Grayslake residents online at surveymonkey.com/r/ZDYBNQ9 through the end of the month.