OLD TOWN — The Chicago History Museum is urging Chicagoans to bare their city flag tattoos Tuesday as it celebrates the centennial of the civic symbol.
The distinctive red-stars-and-blue-bars design was accepted by the City Council as the formal Chicago flag on April 4, 1917 — not coincidentally as the nation was preparing to enter World War I — and the museum holds a centennial celebration from 6-7:30 p.m. with free admission for Illinois residents Tuesday at 1601 N. Clark St.
Having inspired "more tattoos than we can count," the museum said in a release, the flag will be celebrated with anyone baring a suitable piece of permanent body art involving the design getting two complimentary VIP tickets for a return visit.
The museum will also be offering temporary Chicago flag tattoos to visitors — although, nice try crafty Chicagoans, they won't be eligible for the VIP passes.
The first 100 people to register online were to receive a free drink ticket for a Revolution Brewing beer or a soda.
As every Chicagoan should know by now, the four red stars commemorate the Fort Dearborn Massacre, the Great Chicago Fire, the Columbian Exposition and the Century of Progress, while the two blue bars are Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, and the three white stripes that make up the background are the North, West and South sides.
An attempt to add a fifth star in honor of Mayor Richard J. Daley never gained formal acceptance.
Museum historians will explain the origins of the flag, designed by Wallace Rice, at 6:30, and how it originally had just two stars before Fort Dearborn was added in 1933 and the Century of Progress in 1939.
The disc-jockey collective Groove Is in the Heart will spin songs by Chicago artists.
