The flag of Illinois consists of the seal of Illinois on a white background, with the word 'Illinois' underneath the seal. The present seal was adopted in 1869, the flag bearing the central elements of the seal was adopted in 1915, and the word Illinois was added to the flag in 1970. In a survey by the North American Vexillogical Association (NAVA), the flag of Illinois was ranked 49th out of 72 different flags of states and territories, mainly in the US and Canada. The current flag depicts the Great Seal of Illinois, which was originally designed in 1819 and emulated the Great Seal of the United States. In the eagle's beak there is a banner with the state motto, 'State Sovereignty, National Union.' The dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, represent the year Illinois became a state and the year in which the Great Seal was redesigned by Sharon Tyndale. Although 'State Sovereignty' comes first in the motto, 'State' is at the bottom and 'Sovereignty' is upside-down. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)