At the last home match against New York, those of you standing in 117/118, as well as those throughout the stadium, may have recieved a large flag given to 10,000 of the fans attending the match.  Working, with the assistance of Best Buy, the ISA was able to coordinate the design, manufacturing and distribution of flags stadiumwide for this important final regular season contest.

While originally intended to be waved by the crowd before kickoff en masse as a powerfully inspiring visual to the players as the match commenced -- weather and other factors conspired to defeat the intent of the project.  However, many new fans all over the stadium now have a flag to bring to each game from now on and continue waving as a show of their support. 

Many new fans may be looking at the flag design and wonder where the chosen imagery came from and what it means. 

The "CF97" crest was developed years ago as a image that could be identified with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club and city of Chicago that could be used by all fans.  We feel the imagery of the club belongs to everyone, but this was a way to emphasise self-ownership over our collective image.  This is a traditional style of fan groups worldwide, many of which are prevented from using their actual club logos due to issues of copyright, or lack of a consistent identity due to frequent changes in the logo.

• CF97 is an abbreviation for the club name and its year of founding, 1997.
• The Chicago star at its center is a municipal flag star, specifically the one commemorating the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 for which the club is named.
• Around the star run two light blue rings in the manner of the stripes on the municipal flag, representing the Chicago River and connoting a sense of unity around one cause, that being the club we are a part of.
• The wreath is a classical symbol of victory, as in the laurels awarded in ancient Greco-Roman ceremonies and modern Olympics; as well as representing our civic motto :: "Urbs In Horto," or, 'city in a garden'.

The two reds on the flag are both the Chicago Fire bright red and the darker red favored by the fans, running parallel to each other in an endless pattern, showing the continuous fabric of the club and the support of each other's goals. The "double-red" motif has been used in many supporter materials over the past few years, in scarves, banners, and more and has become an identifying mark of Fire fans in it own right.

We thank fans all around the stadium for participating in our efforts Thursday as you have in the past, and look forward to the future when we will seek to involve you all more and more as a unified stadium-wide force.  Thank you also to the fans who volunteered, along with Fire staff, to help distribute the flags and encourage fans to use them at the proper time.