Family-Owned Chicago Flag Company Has Been Supplying Symbols of Civic Pride for 108 Years

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Since 1916, this South Shore family-owned business has been at the center of Chicago's civic identity. We visit the place where the flags get made.

When a Chicagoan hears the letters WGN, they probably think of the broadcasting station, but in this case the letters stand for William George Newbould.

But she’s learned, and her handiwork flies high in the rafters where the Hawks play home games, commemorating players so good their jerseys are retired, and the team’s Stanley Cup wins. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, “we had people camping out front here with lawn chairs on a daily basis. It was a line down the street,” Porter said. “Everybody wanted red, white and blue anything.”

The company similarly got little notice for Queen Elizabeth’s historic visit in 1959. Porter said his great grandfather lived in an apartment above the building, and someone knocked on his door at midnight asking for help getting the city beautified for her arrival. If he’s the W.G.N. flag company president – or the Flag King of Chicago – then April 4 is his big day.“You can go to any corner of the country, that flag is still going to be recognized. People are going to know what it is and they’re going to know, ‘Oh these guys must be Chicagoans,” he said. “We are Chicago through and through, I am Chicago through and through and those who fly that flag are Chicago through and through.

At some point, Porter said, Chicago will have an event significant enough in the city’s future to warrant a fifth star. Until then, they’ll keep producing the classic, as well as any variety customers dream up.“We will make virtually any custom flag,” he said.They come in all sizes, and therefore prices. The only stipulations: Nothing offensive, and nothing that defaces the American flag.

 

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